Kitchener blitzes Silvertips in Memorial Cup Game 2

Published 10:45 pm Monday, May 25, 2026

KELOWNA, B.C. — A tying goal for the Everett Silvertips felt inevitable.

After getting outshot 4-0 in the opening 1:40 of the second period by the Kitchener Rangers in the second round-robin game of the Memorial Cup at Prospera Place on Monday, the Silvertips picked up their offensive zone presence, chipping away at a 2-1 deficit.

Kayd Ruedig fired a shot off Rangers goalie Christian Kirsch’s shoulder. Carter Bear had a wraparound chance smothered. Shea Busch had an open look after Kitchener defenseman Andrew MacNeil slipped with the puck behind the Rangers’ net. No dice, but Everett kept knocking on the door.

Finally, the Silvertips broke through, as they always have this season. Muscling his way to the goal line, Rylan Gould poked in a rebound on Lukas Kaplan’s shot to tie it 2-2 at 8:21, erasing the 2-0 deficit from earlier in the game.

“Let’s go,” Gould could be seen shouting via the Jumbotron as he rolled away from the net to celebrate, although with another unprintable word sandwiched in between.

Everett had a clean slate and — after outshooting Kitchener 10-3 in the near-seven minute span leading up to the goal — all the momentum. This game script had played out time and time again, even as recently as Saturday in a 5-3 win against Chicoutimi.

Then the Rangers flipped it.

Kitchener grabbed the lead back just 85 seconds later on a shot past the right post that Silvertips goalie Anders Miller probably would like to have back, then picked up two more 1:17 apart a few minutes later to take a commanding three-goal lead en route to a 6-2 win.

“That’s the nature of playing a highly skilled team,” Everett coach Steve Hamilton said. “You’re not going to get a lot of do-overs when they get those looks. All part of the process for us. You got to learn from these moments, and it certainly never feels good to get kicked in the teeth, but it happens. Our guys will be fine.”

The Silvertips piled 42 shots on net, but Kirsch stopped 40 of them. Kitchener captain Cameron Reid tallied four points (one goal, three assists). Gould finished with a goal and an assist for Everett, while Miller stopped 22 of 28 shots.

Moments after Gould tied it in the second period, Christian Humphreys slipped a shot past Miller in transition from the high slot to push the Rangers back ahead 3-2 at 9:46.

“That’s hockey,” Gould said. “I think we just need to manage our emotions, kind of keep even-keeled like we’ve done all year, and not let the highs get too high and the lows get too low. Just stay even and just get to our process when they strike like that.”

However, Kitchener kept trucking, and capitalized on a couple of Silvertips’ lapses in the defensive zone. Moments after a failed exit, Everett allowed the Rangers to recollect as Gabriel Chiarot slipped away from Ruedig behind the net and opened himself up for an easy tap-in at the left post at 13:06.

Kitchener pushed it to 5-2 shortly after a Jaxon Pisani turnover at the blue line, which ultimately led to a one-timer from Jack Pridham in the left circle at 14:23.

“They’re fast and they got some skilled players,” Silvertips forward Jaxsin Vaughan said. “They made some plays, and when we weren’t managing the puck well, they definitely capitalized on those chances.”

Vaughan wound up dropping the gloves with MacNeil at 11:51 in the second period. Both players exchanged blows and stayed upright before the officials stepped in to pull them apart. Vaughan said he felt it was a good time to bring his team some energy, but it was ultimately the Rangers that pulled away.

Kitchener mustered just six shots on goal in the third period to Everett’s 13, but they rarely allowed dangerous chances. Cameron Arquette finished it off with a goal at 17:07 for the 6-2 final.

Hamilton said he considered switching to backup Raiden LeGall, who has not appeared in game action since March 20, but Miller insisted on seeing the night through.

“Anders would be the first one to tell you he’d probably like a couple back,” Hamilton said. “That guy’s been our rock for two months. I thought about making a change, and he wanted to work through it, and I thought he was excellent in the third period. And that’s part of giving your guys the belief that we have their back.”

The Silvertips started the night out strong, preventing the Rangers from making clean entries into their zone through the opening minutes, but it was Kitchener that struck first at 3:05.

Reid broke through from the left side and snapped a shot under the crossbar that Miller missed with his glove to create the early lead, which the Rangers doubled with a power-play goal from Pridham at 10:22, just eight seconds after a DuPont trip at 10:14.

Bear drew a holding call on Chiarot almost immediately after the ensuing center-ice faceoff to put Everett back on the power play, and Matias Vanhanen redirected a shot from Gould to put the Silvertips on the board at 12:32.

Hamilton said he liked how the team played in the first period, but the turnovers in the second are what sent things spiraling.

“We played a little bit on our heels,” Hamilton said. “I thought the poise that we showed in the first and the patience making the right play, moving our feet, keeping the rink long, shortened up a bit. And they had some pretty Grade-A looks, and it’s not a team you want to be giving a ton of Grade-A looks to.”

Silvertips defenseman Mattias Uyeda went down near Everett’s end boards at 17:17 of the third period and had to be checked out by a trainer, but Hamilton said he expects him to be fine.

The Rangers (2-0) stand alone atop the Memorial Cup standings, in prime position to secure an automatic berth to the championship. Meanwhile, the Silvertips (1-1) face a crucial third round-robin matchup against the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday.

“We’re a process-driven team, and we have a really short memory when it comes to certain things like this,” Gould said. “We know it’s a short tournament, and I mean, all year we’ve bounced back and we’ve gone back to our process, so for us, we’re going to think about this one for a little longer, and then once we wake up tomorrow, it’s a new day.”