EVERETT – Alex Leavitt sprawled out in the corner of the ice, mobbed by his teammates as hats came cascading onto the ice.
It was a fitting tribute for the greatest individual offensive performance in Silvertips history.
Leavitt scored three goals and had three assists as the Silvertips thrashed the Prince George Cougars 6-1 Friday night in a Western Hockey League game.
“It’s definitely been a while since I had a multi-point game, so it was nice that they all started to come,” Leavitt said. “I just hope they didn’t all come at once and I can keep it going the next couple games.”
Leavitt scored his third goal – earning his hat trick – and sixth point of the night on a short-handed breakaway at 11 minutes, 34 seconds of the third period to set a franchise record for points in a game. The previous record was five set by Mitch Love on Nov. 6 at Saskatoon.
“I thought Mitch had done something this year that would be unequalled when he got five points at Saskatoon,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I didn’t really think we’d see that the rest of the year, and Mitch’s record only stands for half a season. Obviously it’s the single-best offensive night by a Silvertip in the short history of the team.”
It was also the first hat trick scored by a Silvertip at the Everett Events Center, a fact loudly appreciated by the 5,550 in attendance.
“It’s a weird feeling,” Leavitt said about seeing the hats falling to the ice. “The first thing I thought was there’d never been a hat trick in the building, so it was great for the fans to finally see a hat trick. I’m sure they’ve heard a lot about what to do after a hat trick, but they finally got to partake in it.
“I just wish I could see the hats and maybe pick out a nice one that I could keep,” Leavitt added with a laugh.
Torrie Wheat added a goal and two assists – setting a new franchise record for points in a season with 46 and also reaching the 100-point mark in his WHL career – and Shaun Heshka had two goals and an assist for Everett (27-22-7-2), which made a mockery of its previous efforts against Prince George. The Silvertips had lost all three previous meetings.
Colin Patterson scored for Prince George (22-34-3-1).
“We embarrassed ourselves the previous three games we played against them,” Wheat said. “Tonight we had a pretty solid mindset in the dressing room that we wanted a little bit of redemption.”
Of course, Everett didn’t have Leavitt in the first three meetings, either, as Leavitt didn’t arrive via trade until after the previous meeting.
And despite Everett’s Leavitt-led offensive explosion, it was still the Tips’ defense that provided the game’s turning point. Everett led 2-1 late in the first period when Ryan Blatchford was called for a slashing penalty at 17:49 and Constantine was given bench minor for arguing, giving Prince George two full minutes of five-on-three. However, the Tips killed off the penalties, surrendering just two shots in the process, maintaining Everett’s lead.
Everett scored first at 11:07 of the first period when Leavitt’s shot on a three-on-two break was tipped by Wheat between Prince George goaltender Scott Bowles’ legs. Prince George tied it up with a power-play goal 1:40 later when Patterson scored on a rebound, but Everett retook the lead at 14:41, Leavitt making a perfect diagonal pass from the left corner to Heshka pinching from the right point.
Everett then turned the game into a rout in the second period, scoring three goals to increase the lead to 5-1. Heshka scored his second of the game at 3:43 on the power play, beating Bowles clean with a shot from the point. Leavitt then scored goals at 11:16 and 17:53, netting the first on a rebound of Ryan Blatchford’s shot and redirecting the second in at the far post after a terrific pass in transition from Wheat.
Slap shots: One of Everett’s two question marks made it back into the lineup Friday. Left wing Michael Wuchterl recovered from his bout with the flu, but left wing Karel Hromas missed his fourth straight game because of sickness. Defenseman Randy King got back into the lineup as Graham Potuer was a healthy scratch. … With this being parents’ weekend, many of the Silvertip players had their parents in attendance. … Prince George played without fifth-leading scorer Eric Hunter (ankle) and veteran defenseman Devin Featherstone (wrist) because of injury.
Silvertips 6, Cougars 1
Prince George100-1
Everett231-6
First Period-1, Everett, Wheat 21 (Leavitt, Wuchterl), 11:07. 2, Prince George, Patterson 19 (Rogers, Byfuglien), 12:47 (pp). 3, Everett, Heshka 8 (Leavitt, Wheat), 14:41.
Second Period-4, Everett, Heshka 9 (Harty, Wheat), 3:43 (pp). 5, Everett, Leavitt 13 (Blatchford, Heshka), 11:16. 6, Everett, Leavitt 14 (Wheat, Harty), 17:53.
Third Period-7, Everett, Leavitt 15, 11:34 (sh).
Shots on goal-Prince George 11-5-7-23. Everett 9-14-7-30. Power-play opportunities-Prince George 1 of 5. Everett 1 of 6.
Goalies-Prince George, Bowles 17-19-4 (23 shots, 18 saves), Cyr (7 shots, 6 saves). Everett, Wall 20-17-6 (23 shots, 22 saves).
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