Last weekend’s trip to Prince George went quite well for the Everett Silvertips as they picked up three of a possible four road points to improve to 8-10-1-1 (18 points) on the season.
Matt Fonteyne recorded an assist to go along with a “get out of your seat” goal in Saturday’s 4-0 win:
Public service announcement: Matt Fonteyne says pick your jaw off the floor. pic.twitter.com/ROCBLsv7jy
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) November 13, 2017
Sure there was some disappointment at not sweeping the weekend as the Tips had leads of 2-0 and 3-2 Friday before falling 4-3 in a shootout. But that was tempered by Carter Hart’s 20th career WHL shutout Saturday.
It was actually Hart’s second shutout in less than a week if you count Monday’s 7-0 blanking over the Russians for Team WHL. So yes, Hart appears to be back to normal after his bout with mononucleosis and is performing at the level fans have come to expect.
While he hasn’t played enough minutes to qualify for inclusion among the league leaders, Hart has a .933 save percentage and a 2.11 goals-against average. For context, Portland’s Cole Kehler leads the league with a 2.00 GAA and a .938 percentage.
Sean Richards has suddenly caught fire offensively for the Tips. The 1998-born winger has four goals in his past three games and now has seven goals and five assists for the season. Richards was healthy scratched for Everett’s home game against Tri-City on Oct. 18 before erupting for a pair of goals in Everett’s 6-3 loss to Moose Jaw two days later.
#Silvertips getting production from Sean Richards. Assuming I looked up everything correctly (a sometimes-dubious proposition), he has seven points in seven games since joining the top line. Tips 4-2-1 in that span. Also Richards has nine points in last eight games. pic.twitter.com/6T3wc4zE3f
— Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) November 13, 2017
Richards was bumped up to the top line with Fonteyne and Patrick Bajkov following the Moose Jaw game and has seven points in those seven games. More over, the Tips are 4-2-1 since Richards joined the top line.
The Tips have a full slate coming up. They begin a four-in-five set Wednesday at home against the Prince Albert Raiders, and play a home-and-home Friday and Saturday with Seattle. Then comes a Sunday matinee against Regina. Next week they play three-in-four with a day off for Thanksgiving.
In other news:
– In case you missed it I had this story in Monday’s Herald looking at the persistent rumors of a potential outdoor game at Safeco Field.
– Vancouver native Paul Kariya goes into the Hockey Hall of Fame tonight. He played for current Silvertips GM Garry Davidson when Davidson was the coach/GM of the Penticton in the 1990s. Davidson is in Toronto for the induction ceremony.
– The Kootenay Ice and Regina Pats announced a big trade Monday as defenseman Cale Fleury is headed to Regina for 18-year-old defenseman Jonathan Smart, 16-year-old forward Cole Muir and three draft picks. The Pats, who are hosting the Memorial Cup next May, were one of the preseason favorites for the league title.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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