Kelowna staves off elimination to Silvertips with Game 4 comeback

Published 11:30 pm Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Tij Iginla picked a good time to stamp his name on the series.

After he was held scoreless through the first three games against the Everett Silvertips in the second round of the WHL Playoffs, the Kelowna Rockets forward finally broke through with a power-play goal at 7:54 of the third period in Game 4 at Prospera Place on Wednesday to cut the deficit to 3-1.

What could have been a meaningless late goal at the tail-end of a Silvertips series sweep turned out to be the spark for a comeback. Kelowna scored twice more over the final 12 minutes of regulation, including Shane Smith’s power-play goal to tie it 3-3 with just under eight seconds left.

Iginla made his mark again in overtime, scoring 2:30 into the extra frame to secure the 4-3 comeback win and force Game 5 in Everett on Friday.

Positioned in front of the crease, Iginla waited patiently for Tomas Poletin to roll behind the net, where he delivered a backhand pass to the front for Iginla to punch in after Vojtech Cihar took a whack at it from the right post.

“He’s an unbelievable player,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton said about Iginla following Everett’s 4-2 win in Game 2 on April 11. “I think (holding him scoreless) goes along with our philosophy. We don’t want to give up time and space to anybody, and when you get a player of that caliber — he’s crafty, he’s going to make things happen — you got to limit his looks.”

The Silvertips could only do that for so long. Iginla had been held without a point only six times prior to this series against Everett. The Silvertips proceeded to do so three games in a row, taking a 3-0 series lead with a 4-1 win in Game 3 on Tuesday. Everett survived a scoreless first period where it was outshot 16-4 by Kelowna before goals from Matias Vanhanen, Brek Liske and Julius Miettinen built up a 3-0 lead in the second period. Lukas Kaplan secured the 4-1 final with a penalty shot late in the third period.

Then, as Iginla roared back to life in Game 4, so did the Rockets.

In addition to Iginla, who was the 2024 sixth overall pick to the Utah Mammoth and is the son of Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, backup goaltender Josh Banini saved Kelowna’s season.

Banini replaced Rockets starter Harrison Boettiger at 14:10 of the first period, when Boettiger allowed his third goal on Everett’s 10th shot. Banini proceeded to stop all 29 shots he faced down the stretch.

The Silvertips took a 1-0 lead just 1:04 into the game when Miettinen scored his eighth goal of the postseason, which is tied for the league lead as of Wednesday.

Vanhanen notched his seventh goal of the postseason at 8:47, finishing off a pass from Landon DuPont on the power play. Liske extended it to 3-0 at 14:10 with a rip from the right circle, and Everett held onto its lead through the second period after outshooting Kelowna 27-11 through 40 minutes.

The Silvertips’ third-period collapse led to their first loss of the postseason, and they’ll have an opportunity to rebound and close out the series at Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday.

“I’m just trying to have my best game every day,” said Everett goaltender Anders Miller, who leads the WHL playoff field in save percentage (.961) and goals-against average (1.17). “Not trying to worry about what’s going to be in the future. Just play one game at a time, and my team’s helping me out there.”

Everett is expected to return forward Jaxsin Vaughan to the lineup following a two-game suspension he received for a hit on Rockets forward Ty Halaburda late in the Game 2 win on April 11.

Halaburda had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher, and subsequently spent the next two nights at an Everett-area hospital with a head injury. Kelowna announced on Monday that Halaburda, who turns 21 on April 22, will miss the remainder of the postseason.

“Just hoping he’s alright,” Vaughan said after Game 2 about what was going through his mind after the hit, which he insisted was not meant to injure. “Really hoping for just seeing him giving some good signs and stuff like that.”

The Silvertips are also awaiting the return of captain Tarin Smith, a finalist for WHL Defenseman of the Year. Smith has two assists in four playoff games, but he exited early in Everett’s first-round, series-clinching win against Portland in Game 4 on April 1. Hamilton declined to give details on Smith’s status for the second round series.