Silvertips fall 7-3 to Medicine Hat in clash of WHL powerhouses

Published 9:28 am Thursday, January 30, 2025

EVERETT – When Dominik Rymon scored just 32 seconds into the third period to cut the score to 3-2 against the Medicine Hat Tigers, the Everett Silvertips felt good about their chances to get back in the game.

But after a mental lapse on the Everett bench led to a too-many-men penalty at 1:15, which Medicine Hat capitalized on to make it 4-2, the Tigers (32-15-2-0) scored three more times to seal a dominant 7-3 win, their 11th in a row. The Silvertips (34-6-4-3), who still lead the WHL with 75 points, suffered their worst loss of the season against the Eastern Conference leaders (66 points).

“We felt like at 3-1 and going into the third, we’re in a spot where we’ve come back from before and knowing it’s not going to be easy, but we got a good start,” Everett coach Steve Hamilton said. “[Then we] give it right back, and that’s unfortunate. So, you know, these are hard games to play, and you don’t get wiggle room in games like this against teams like that, because they’re potent. They don’t need 50 shots to get seven goals. They can quick strike on you, and we didn’t handle that as well as we could have.”

Rymon cuts it 3-2 just 32 seconds into the 3rd. Tarin Smith sends it back to him with plenty of space to rip it. #Silvertips

But now Medicine Hat heads to the PP after Everett is called for too many men on the ice at 1:15 pic.twitter.com/vkcXlgkebq

— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) January 30, 2025

Tigers winger Gavin McKenna, the projected top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, recorded a hat trick and added an assist. Forwards Oasiz Weisblatt, Hunter St. Martin and defenseman Tanner Molendyk each had two assists, while goalie Harrison Meneghin stopped 27 shots.

For the Silvertips, defenseman Tarin Smith and winger Jesse Heslop (2 assists each) led the scoring, while goalie Jesse Sanche allowed seven goals on just 22 shots (.682 save percentage) in a rare off-night.

Everett winger Carter Bear opened the scoring at 9:12 of the first period, finishing off a rush sparked by Smith intercepting the puck at the Silvertips blue line, but the Tigers struck back with goals from Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and Marcus Pacheco just 58 seconds apart in the final three minutes of the period.

Everett opened the second period with 1:39 left of a power-play opportunity, but an off-target stretch pass fell to Wiesblatt, who jetted past Silvertips defenseman Eric Jamieson and dished it to McKenna for an easy tuck-in, which extended the lead to 3-1.

After the two sides traded goals early in the third to make it 4-2, with McKenna displaying strong stick-handling to hold off defenders and set up Bryce Pickford on the power play, the 17-year-old star dazzled again with his second short-handed goal of the night. He picked the puck off fellow phenom Landon DuPont’s stick and skated in on a breakaway, scoring five-hole on Sanche to extend it to 5-2 at 4:30 of the third.

Is this McKenna kid any good?

He picks off the breakout attempt and takes it in by himself for his 2nd shorty of the night. Up to 3 points on the night and the Tigers are rolling with a 5-2 lead early in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/4HrebPJLGK

— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) January 30, 2025

“We just knew that we had to gap up at the line [on the penalty kill]. We knew that’s just how we play, it’s how we always kill,” McKenna said. “So [we] just kind of read their plays a little bit and watched good video on them, and we were ready for it.”

Medicine Hat defenseman Jonas Woo pushed it to 6-2 at 7:24, and McKenna completed his hat trick at 15:33, finding space on the inside edge of the right circle and ripping a shot past Sanche, miming a cap tip to the silent Angel of the Winds Arena crowd.

“Coming out in the third, we had some juice in the room, and then obviously scoring that big goal in the first shift was huge for us,” DuPont said. “And then obviously they come back right after that with a few big goals. And so that just really pushed us back, and we kind of just slumped up and gave up, which can’t happen in a game. But, you know, we’ll just learn from that.”

Silvertips forward Cole Temple scored a garbage-time goal at 19:06 for the 7-3 final, but the Tigers’ statement had already been made. It was the first and only meeting between the two sides this season. Their next could be in the WHL Championship Series in May, should both teams advance through their sides of the playoff bracket.

For now, Everett will continue fighting through their slog of a schedule with another weekend triple-header on tap after playing four games in five days last week.

“I don’t want to overreact to anything,” Hamilton said. “We’re gonna take it on the chin sometimes, and we took a right cross on the chin tonight. It happens, and I think we’ll be better for it, to be totally honest.”