Silvertips snap Pat’s 11-game winning streak
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 14, 2017
By Jesse Geleynse
Herald Writer
REGINA, Saskatchewan — Back in November, the Everett Silvertips snapped then-WHL leader Medicine Hat’s 10-game winning streak.
Tuesday night in Regina, the Tips ended the league-leading Pats’ 11-game winning streak with a convincing 4-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 5,458 fans at the Brandt Centre.
The Silvertips (33-12-8-4, 76 points) appear fully recovered from a seven-game winless skid that saw them cede the U.S. Division lead to Seattle.
The Pats (40-7-6-1, 87 points), ranked first among CHL clubs were held three goals below their league average as Everett goaltender Carter Hart registered 26 saves and Noah Juulsen and Brian King each had a goal and an assist.
“I told them I wanted to see where we stacked up,” Everett assistant coach Mitch Love said in a post-game interview on KRKO 1380. “We were the best defensive team in the league. It starts a lot with our goaltender through our back end and up to our forward group. I just wanted to see where we were at against the best offensive team in the league and I thought they did a heck of a job tonight as a group.”
Juulsen missed nine games with a lower body injury and now has points in all three games since returning at Brandon on Friday.
“(Juulsen) brings a lot more than just what he does on the ice,” Love said. “He brings a calming influence and a kick in the rear end in the locker room when guys need it, and I think that’s been valuable since (he) has been back and healthy.”
The Tips took a 1-0 lead through one and pulled away with a three-goal second stanza. They extended their lead when Juulsen’s wrister from the point bounced off a Regina player right to King’s stick in front of the net. King slipped it between Regina goalie Tyler Brown’s pads for a 2-0 lead at 11:14.
After being held without a shot for the most of the second period, Regina drew within a goal at 2-1 when Filip Ahl tipped Chase Harrison’s point shot past Hart at 16:51.
But Juulsen put Everett back up by two goals with his wrister from the high slot through traffic at 17:55. Then Patrick Bajkov potted a rebound of Dominic Zwerger’s shot with 10.7 seconds to go in the second to give the Tips the 4-1 lead.
Regina got one back at 2:41 when former Tips captain Dawson Leedahl slipped a backhander of his own rebound past Hart to make it 4-2. That was the final goal of the game as Hart came up with a pair of huge saves on the Pats’ final power play halfway through the third.
“The life on the bench tonight — the guys were patting each other on the back more so than other nights,” Love said. “It kind of showed me the team really wanted this victory. They wanted to make a statement to the league that, ‘Hey, we can play. When things are going right, when we’re getting the goaltending, when our special teams are clicking, which they did again tonight, we’re a tough team to play against.’”
Everett found the net on just its second shot. Aaron Irving’s slap slot from the top of the left circle hit a Regina defenseman and deflected past Brown for a 1-0 Tips lead at 2:24 in the first period.
The Tips continue their six-game swing through the East Division tonight at 5:05 against the Saskatoon Blades at SaskTel Centre.
Silvertips 4, Pats 2
Everett 1 3 0 — 4
Regina 0 1 1 — 2
1st Period-1, Everett, Irving 16 (Richards, Sutter), 2:24. Penalties-Centazzo Evt (kneeing), 6:02; Wylie Evt (delay of game), 11:20; Henry Reg (slashing), 12:15.
2nd Period-2, Everett, King 3 (Skrumeda, Juulsen), 11:14. 3, Regina, Ahl 24 (Wagner, Harrison), 16:51. 4, Everett, Juulsen 10 (King, Skoleski), 17:55. 5, Everett, Bajkov 22 (Fonteyne, Zwerger), 19:49. Penalties-Hobbs Reg (high sticking, high sticking), 1:17.
3rd Period-6, Regina, Leedahl 27 (Steel, Zborovskiy), 2:41. Penalties-Henry Reg (checking from behind), 4:19; Zwerger Evt (hooking), 9:09.
Shots on Goal-Everett 9-15-7-31. Regina 9-8-11-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Everett 0 / 4; Regina 0 / 3.
Goalies-Everett, Hart 22-7-6-1 (28 shots-26 saves). Regina, Brown 25-5-5-1 (31 shots-27 saves).
A-5,458
