Before anything else, I need to mention the poignant pregame moment of silence that the Everett Silvertips held in memory of the 15 Humboldt Broncos players and staffers who perished in Friday’s tragic bus crash in Saskatchewan. In a move echoed league- and sport-wide, the Tips and Winterhawks players stood side by side during the national anthems.

Tips and Hawks standing side by side for moment of silence pic.twitter.com/l60VDzPuQE

— Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) April 8, 2018

The Tips were in full control once the game began. Sean Richards scored just over a minute in, Patrick Bajkov recorded the fifth postseason hat trick in franchise history and Carter Hart turned in his fourth career postseason shutout in a 6-0 rout of the Winterhawks to even the series 1-1.

It was a 180-degree turn from Friday’s 5-2 Tips loss. On Saturday, Everett came out with impressive intensity and tenacity while Portland looked flat, and ultimately seemed happy to get a split before heading back to the Rose City for Games 3 and 4.

The Tips crashed the net, won puck battles and displayed the physicality they showed in the Seattle series to build a 5-0 lead through two periods and chase Portland netminder Cole Kehler.

Two of Everett’s goals came on rebounds in the slot, two more came courtesy of net-front traffic and the Tips managed to prevent Portland from cashing in on the second-chance opportunities that spelled Everett’s doom on Friday.

Even better 2nd period for EVT.
3 more goals have them in firm control w/ 20 to go.
Complete 180 from both teams.
Tips winning battles, converting MUCH better.
POR had handful of looks but missed the net, whiffed or turned away by Hart each time.

— Silvertips Color Guy (@TipsATG) April 8, 2018

Bajkov had the hat trick, but it was Richards who set the victory in motion. Richards tipped in the first goal and set up the second as the Richards-Matt Fonteyne-Bajkov line combined for eight points in the victory.

Head coach Dennis Williams also mixed up Everett’s fourth line. On Friday, the fourth line of Spencer Gerth, Ethan O’Rourke and Bronson Sharp finished a collective minus-6. On Saturday, Gerth remained in the lineup while O’Rourke and Sharp sat in favor of Dawson Butt and Ty Westgard – the latter of whom was making his Silvertips debut after a 70-point season with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles.

Everett's fourth line of Gerth, Butt and Westgard comes off to boisterous applause

— Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) April 8, 2018

“(Friday) night that line struggled there against (Portland’s) fourth line and so we put some fresh legs in there, and I thought they responded really well,” Williams said. “I thought (Westgard) did a really good job of stepping into his first game in a long time. He maybe didn’t get the minutes (he expected), and even at the end there we had to be cognizant of D-zone faceoffs. But I thought he fit in well with that line.”

So now it’s on to Portland as the series has become a best-of-five. In that perspective Portland has home-ice advantage.

But the Winterhawks were significantly better on the road than at home this season.

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