EVERETT – These were the games that mattered.
Everything the Everett Silvertips accomplished the first three months of the season was ancillary to the pivotal question: How would the Silvertips stack up against the Vancouver Giants?
Based on the past two nights, it appears the Silvertips have found the right answer.
In the second meeting in two nights between the top two teams in the Canadian Hockey League, Everett prevailed again, winning 3-2 in overtime Saturday night at the Everett Events Center.
Dan Gendur scored the game winner in overtime as Everett (27-4-0-1), ranked No. 1 in the CHL, completed a home-and-home sweep of second-ranked Vancouver (25-5-3-3).
However, the manner of those games indicate that any margin between the two teams wouldn’t fit on the edge of a razor blade.
“Those are huge points,” Gendur said. “Not just in the Western Hockey League standings but also in the CHL rankings. You can see the 1-2 in the rankings and how similar our records are, for sure.”
On the winning goal, Gendur took the puck coast to coast down the left side, then attempted a centering pass to Zach Hamill, only for the puck to deflect in off the stick of Vancouver defenseman Brendan Mikkelson.
Moises Gutierrez and Kyle Beach also scored and David Reekie made 22 saves in net for Everett, which took the first step toward exorcising the demons from last season’s sweep in the WHL Western Conference finals at the hands of the Giants.
“It’s huge,” said Everett center Zack Dailey, who played a fantastic game filling in for the suspended Peter Mueller. “We just wanted to show we were one of the top teams in the league. They’re a great team and we kind of had a grudge against them ever since they swept us out of the playoffs. We just wanted to prove we were a contending team this year.”
Mikkelson and Kyle Lamb scored and Tyson Sexsmith made 22 saves in net for the Giants.
If this weekend’s games are any indication, the race between Everett and Vancouver for supremacy in the Western Conference should be a dandy. Even with both teams missing key players to the World Junior Hockey Championships, suspension or injury, the games were hotly contested and played with playoff intensity.
In the final breakdown, the teams played to a virtual dead heat – Friday’s game also was tied at the end of regulation and was won by Everett in a shootout. Both games were decided as much by luck as by ability.
“I thought both teams played well in both games,” Vancouver captain Brett Festerling said. “Both teams had opportunities to win both games. It was hard fought, it was a playoff mentality and I think both teams enjoy playing in those kind of games. They came out on top, but we got two points.”
The biggest development for Everett this weekend was Everett’s ability to compete with the Giants physically. Last season in the playoffs, Vancouver plowed through Everett by physically manhandling the Tips. But in these two games Everett showed a much better ability to match the Giants’ physical play.
“We were the youngest team in the league last year,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “Younger bodies are not as big or as strong or as heavy. We’re an older team this year and with that age comes confidence, size, weight, strength. So we haven’t felt this year physically anything is a problem.”
Everett twice had to come from behind. Vancouver took the lead just 3:24 into the game when, on the power play, Mikkelson wristed a shot from the center point that slipped past Reekie into the right corner.
However, Everett tied it up at 14:51 when, on a five-on-three advantage, Gutierrez was able to poke in a rebound to make it 1-1.
Vancouver regained the lead 2:26 into the second period when Jonathan Blum’s wrister from the right circle hit off Lamb’s body and in at the far post. But Everett again tied it on the power play, this time Beach roofing a shot from a tight angle on the left side.
In the third period, Vancouver had a golden opportunity with a five-on-three power play, but Everett’s penalty kill held the Giants without a shot on goal.
Slap shots: Everett fielded the same lineup it used Friday. Right wing Brandon Campos (hip) and defenseman Eric Doyle (leg) remained on the sidelines because of injuries. Vancouver made one change, inserting 17-year-old left wing Mike Piluso ofor 15-year-old center Evander Kane. … The ice surface was less than ideal. An excess of snow built up because the ice was thicker from the ice cycles that were at the Everett Events Center on Friday.
At Everett Event Center
Vancouver1100-2
Everett1101-3
First Period-1, Vancouver, Mikkelson 1 (Kraus, Blum), 3:24 (pp). 2, Everett, Gutierrez 17 (Zetariuk, Fiala), 14:51 (pp). Penalties-Vartovnik, Everett (interference), 3:15; Festerling, Vancouver (holding), 3:47; Hamill, Everett (cross-checking), 7:34; Fransoo, Everett (holding), 12:05; Cunningham, Vancouver (hooking), 13:07; Mikkelson, Vancouver (cross-checking), 14:39; Festerling, Vancouver (interference), 17:27; Flatters, Vancouver (delay of game), 18:00.
Second Period-3, Vancouver, Lamb 12 (Blum, Kraus), 2:26. 4, Everett, Beach 18 (Hamill, Gutierrez), 8:14 (pp). Penalties-Watt, Vancouver (fighting), 1:52; Harty, Everett (fighting), 1:52; Blum, Vancouver (tripping), 7:38; Lamb, Vancouver (boarding-roughing), 9:03; Smyke, Everett (roughing-roughing), 9:03; Watt, Vancouver (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:19; Smith, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:19.
Third Period-No goals. Penalties-Ellington, Everett (hooking), 11:14; Hamill, Everett (hooking), 11:28.
Overtime-5, Everett, Gendur 5 (Fransoo), 0:52. Penalties-None.
Shots on goal-Vancouver 6-9-7-2-24. Everett 12-7-5-1-25.
Power-play opportunities-Vancouver 1 of 5. Everett 2 of 6.
Goalies-Vancouver, Sexsmith 16-4-2-2 (25 shots, 22 saves). Everett, Reekie 9-4-0-0 (24 shots, 22 saves).
A-7,419.
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