Silvertips split first two games of WHL Championship

Published 7:47 am Sunday, May 10, 2026

EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips had no doubts about their general approach to special teams entering Game 1 of the WHL Championship series against the Prince Albert Raiders at Angel of the Winds on Friday.

Not only was their high-octane power play converting at 40% clip at home this postseason, but the team played much more disciplined in the Western Conference Finals to limit the Penticton Vees’ opportunities on the man-advantage. Even in the inevitable event of a Prince Albert power play (29.2%), the Silvertips felt confident their second-ranked penalty kill (85.1%) was well-positioned to combat it.

“They have some top-line players, but I think we have a very disciplined team,” Everett forward Jesse Heslop told The Herald on Monday. “Kind of like we showed in that Penticton series. Like, we don’t need to take penalties, and we’re still going to play super physical. And as you’ve seen, our penalty kill has been doing really well. So just keep that going when we have to use it.”

However, as one would expect in a championship series, everything is much easier said than done.

After Everett went scoreless on its first three power-play opportunities, a retaliatory cross-check gave the Raiders their first, which they cashed in to jump ahead 2-1 en route to a 3-1 lead in the second period. While the Silvertips managed to cut it to 3-2 with a 6-on-4 late in the third, a Prince Albert empty-netter secured a 4-2 win to kick off the series.

It was the Silvertips’ first loss on home ice since Jan. 16 (20 straight wins in between), and their first at home with goalie Anders Miller in net since Oct. 25. 195 days.

After breezing through the first three rounds of the WHL Playoffs, Everett has met its match. Welcome to the Finals.

“They’re very organized,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton said. “Their back end is very talented, good puck-movers, and because they’re organized, they’re all on the same page. If you don’t have good deposits and put pucks into spaces you can get to … then you’re going to be chasing it, and that’s a big part of their identity is how quickly they play, and we knew that going in.”

As disheartening as a Game 1 loss on home ice can feel, the sky is not falling. Special teams can make-or-break games in any series, and that was very much the case on Friday. Hamilton has spoken time and time again that he prefers his team play 5-on-5 as much as possible, and that was where they shined. At least through the first 40 minutes.

The Raiders protected their lead well in the third period, consistently pushing the Silvertips deep into their own zone and making zone entries difficult, but play was fairly level at even strength in the first two periods. If anything, Everett held a slight edge.

“I felt like we were energized to start,” Hamilton said. “A lot of good things. Good first (period), and quite honestly, we did a lot of really good things tonight. I don’t know if it’s a little rust or if we were just a fraction off of our best selves, but we’re going to need to be our best selves against that team. They don’t take a lot of time or shifts off, and when we were urgent and played that way, I thought we carried the play at times.”

Everett struck first at 6:07 of the first period, and fittingly, it was the usual suspects involved in the play.

Top pair defenseman Brek Liske started the sequence with a point shot that a Raiders defender deflected wide. The puck wound up with his partner, Landon DuPont, cycling back towards the point for another go, which Prince Albert goalie Michal Orsulak stopped with his pad. Ever relentless on the forecheck, the top line of Julius Miettinen, Matias Vanhanen and Carter Bear retrieved the puck again, with Vanhanen ultimately feeding Bear from behind the net for a one-timer in front.

Everett received two power-play opportunities in the first period, giving them two chances to take command of the game, but the Raiders held them off. Following a Riley Boychuk hooking penalty at 11:39, Linden Burrett blocked a Vanhanen shot, and Jaxsin Vaughan sent a shot wide from the doorstep off a centering pass from Shea Busch. A hooking call on Brayden Dube put the Silvertips back on the man advantage with 34.5 seconds left in the period, and while DuPont sent a shot off the crossbar 25 seconds into the other side of the intermission, Prince Albert killed that off too.

Everett continued to create chances at even-strength. Lukas Kaplan set up Vaughan with a centering pass off the rush, but Orsulak bobbled the puck into his glove at 2:33 before Kaplan could punch in a rebound attempt. Bear’s forechecking behind the net won him a puck, which he sent to Miettinen in front of the left post, but again Orsulak made the stop at 3:15. Miettinen looked to the ceiling, wishing he could have it back.

Nearly two minutes later, the Raiders tied it 1-1, when former Seattle Thunderbird Braeden Cootes found Jonah Sivertson from behind the net at 5:12.

The Silvertips let a third power-play opportunity go by the wayside midway through the second before Prince Albert got a chance of its own at 14:04. A Raiders player laid a big hit on Bear in front of the Everett bench, and Liske swooped in with a cross-check in retaliation. Only the latter was penalized, and the discipline from the Western Conference Finals escaped them to give Prince Albert a prime opportunity.

Miller made a spectacular split save on Sivertson, and held off Cootes on the follow-up during the delayed penalty, but Cootes would get the next one. After a big save from Miller and a key block on Rudolph, Cootes held the puck in the high slot before slipping it five-hole to give the visitors a 2-1 lead at 15:07.

Heslop and Boychuk took matching roughing minors at 17:50, and the Raiders doubled the lead just 16 seconds later when Daxon Rudolph set up Justice Christensen with a cross-ice pass.

“When they’re trying to open the top, I think, us as (defensemen), we got to kill plays early,” DuPont said. “If the forward’s face is on the glass, they don’t even get the chance to open up the up, and I think at times we did that very well, and at times we didn’t do that very well, so I think we’ll go over it in video and we’ll come back stronger tomorrow.”

Fighting back from their multi-goal deficit, the Silvertips just could not get past Prince Albert’s smothering defense until the final minutes. Miller left his crease for an extra attacker with around three minutes left in regulation, and a Matyas Man tripping penalty put Everett on a 6-on-4 power-play at 17:37 of the third.

Miettinen needed just 14 seconds, dangling past multiple defenders on an offensive zone entry before firing a backhand shot past Orsulak to cut it to 3-2. The Silvertips created multiple threats to tie it at 6-on-5, but Aiden Oiring cleared a juicy rebound all the way up the ice into the empty net at 18:55 to secure a 4-2 final.

“It was a good push,” DuPont said. “We haven’t been in a situation like that in a while, and I think we handled it well. Obviously ‘Jules’ makes a nice play, and then we got it in front. Just a stick off, and that’s just the way it went.”

Everett trailed in a series for the first time this postseason. The team knew it would be in for a tough challenge entering the series, but now the pressure was elevated for Game 2 on Saturday, where the Silvertips evened the series 1-1 with a 6-2 victory.

Bear and defensemen Kay Ruedig put Everett ahead 2-0 within 5:31, and Rylan Gould pushed it to 3-0 by the end of the first period. The Silvertips power play bounced back, going 2-for-4, and the penalty kill went 2-for-3. Miettinen led the scoring with one goal and three assists, and Ruedig had a goal and two assists.

Heslop scored a power-play goal at 19:59 of the third period to put an exclamation point on the series-tying win. While this Everett team has not experienced much losing, the players feel confident in their ability to bounce back. Saturday proved to be another example.

“Second round (against Kelowna), we lost that Game 4 (in overtime on the road), and everyone was pissed,” Heslop said on May 4. “And Steve, our coach, was kind of like, ‘Guys, relax. A lot of teams are just coming in hoping for a split.’ So we know what we’re capable of. We know what we want, and we know how we can play, and we play with confidence.”

The Raiders got the split they were hoping for, and now the series shifts to Prince Albert for Games 3-5 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Playing on the road has never been an issue for the Silvertips, who are 34-5-1 including the playoffs. Three straight road wins would clinch Ed Chynoweth Cup, but Everett will need to win just one game on the road to at least extend the series for a return to Angel of the Winds, where Games 6 and 7 will take place on May 17 and 18, if necessary.