KENNEWICK — Leland Irving was on his game Saturday night. And he had to be.
Irving turned away almost everything the Tri-City Americans threw at him, leading the Everett Silvertips to a 2-1 victory.
Tri-City assaulted the Everett goal through much of the game, but Irving stopped 42 of the 43 shots he faced, including several from point blank, to win it for the Tips.
Chris de la Lande’s first career WHL goal late in the second period broke a 1-1 tie and proved to be the winner for Everett (8-6-0-0), which won its third straight. Kyle Beach also scored for the Tips, with Zach Hamill adding a pair of assists.
Shaun Vey scored for Tri-City (12-4-0-0), which had its five-game winning streak stopped. It was also the Americans’ first home loss in 21 games. Chet Pickard stopped 27 shots in net for Tri-City.
Everett was under attack for much of the second period, giving up 20 shots, including Vey’s tying goal. But the Tips received a bit of fortune to take the lead for good. At 16 minutes, 37 seconds, de la Lande fired a shot from the left point that deflected off Tri-City defenseman Jarrett Toll and past Pickard to give the Tips a 2-1 lead.
Then in the third period Irving made several good saves to preserve the victory for the Tips.
Everett struck first at 10:48 of the first period. The Tips put pressure on the Tri-City goal and Beach was able to put the second rebound in, making it 1-0. It was the first even-strength goal of the season for Everett’s leading scorer as each of his previous eight came on the power play.
Tri-City came on in the second period and tied it up at 12:39. The Americans broke three-on-two and Vey wristed a shot past Irving from the left circle to make it 1-1.
Both teams were missing key defensemen. Everett was without captain Jonathan Harty because of a hip pointer. Tri-City was missing T.J. Fast and Tyler Schmidt because of illness.
Everett also was without forwards Vitali Karamnov and Jordan Mistelbacher and defenseman Eddie Friesen, who were scratched because for disciplinary reasons.
Silvertips 2, Americans 1
Everett 1 1 0-2
Tri-City 0 1 0-1
First Period-1, Everett, Beach 9 (Hamill), 10:48. Penalties-Alexander, Everett (hooking) 14:30.
Second Period-2, Tri-City, Vey 7 (Reese), 12:39. 3, Everett, de la Lande 1 (Gendur, Hamill), 16:37. Penalties-Gendur, Everett (slashing), 1:13; English, Everett (interference), 7:18; Werboski, Tri-City (holding), 13:05.
Third Period-No goals. Penalties-Reddick, Tri-City (high sticking), 0:25; Potuer, Everett (hooking), 2:53; Hamill, Everett (tripping), 4:02; Beach, Everett (cross checking), 11:13; Stoklasa, Tri-City (hooking), 13:45; Sonne, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 16:15; Stoklasa, Tri-City (holding), 16:15; Reddick, Tri-City (holding), 19:38.
Shots on goal-Everett 10-10-9-29. Tri-City 11-20-12-43. Power-play opportunities-Everett 0 of 5. Tri-City 0 of 6.
Goalies-Everett, Irving 6-5-0-0 (43 shots, 42 saves). Tri-City, Pickard 10-1-0-0 (29 shots, 27 saves).
A-3,678.
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