Slivertips’ Jesse Sanche gets up from the ice after the Medicine Hat Tigers score during the game on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Slivertips’ Jesse Sanche gets up from the ice after the Medicine Hat Tigers score during the game on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Medicine Hat Trick: Tigers’ McKenna outduels Tips’ DuPont in WHL bout

All eyes were on top NHL prospects Gavin McKenna and Landon DuPont on Wednesday, but only one shined

EVERETT – On its surface, Wednesday’s matchup between the Everett Silvertips and Medicine Hat Tigers had enough intrigue on its own.

The ‘Wednesday Night in the Dub’ matchup featured the top two teams in the WHL, with the Tigers in particular riding a 10-game win streak. It may very well have been a preview of the WHL Championship Series coming in May.

Yet that was not the biggest talking point of the evening. Instead, Wednesday marked a highly anticipated meeting between Everett’s exceptional status defenseman Landon DuPont and Medicine Hat’s blue-chip forward Gavin McKenna.

McKenna and DuPont are expected to be the first overall pick in the 2026 and 2027 NHL Drafts, respectively, and therefore had countless fans across the world tuning in to view their talent. But by the end of the night, it was the ‘Gavin McKenna Show’ at Angel of the Winds Arena.

The 17-year-old winger had a hat trick and an assist to lead Medicine Hat to a 7-3 win, the team’s 11th in a row. McKenna’s four-point night brought his season total to 83 (25 goals, 58 assists), which leads the WHL. Meanwhile, the 15-year-old DuPont finished without a point and a minus-two rating.

“He’s a great player,” DuPont said of McKenna. “He held his puck very well, and obviously had a hat trick on us. So I don’t want to be talking about him too highly right now, but obviously he’s a great player. Obviously, playing against him, you just realize how big the gap is compared to him and other players out there.”

Despite the hype, the two rising stars rarely shared the ice together, but when they did, big plays happened. Their first real shift against each other came midway through the second period while Everett trailed 3-1, with DuPont successfully holding McKenna off to snuff out a 3-on-2 rush. Although the Silvertips eventually lost by four, a Tigers goal in that moment would have been a back-breaker.

Instead, McKenna would deal the crushing blow at 4:30 of the third period. With a short-handed goal and power-play assist already, McKenna continued to shine on special teams for Medicine Hat, which had to kill off another penalty as Everett tried to cut the 4-2 deficit.

Silvertips defenseman Tarin Smith started the breakout from Everett’s zone and sent a pass to DuPont on the right after crossing the red line. McKenna read the play and timed a poke check perfectly, knocking the puck off DuPont’s stick before he had the chance to play it, and surging forward with no one but Everett goalie Jesse Sanche in front of him. He buried the puck five-hole to make the score 5-2 and all but secure the victory.

“You can’t give it to [McKenna] on a tee to go in on a 2-on-0 or a breakaway. I mean, that’s about the worst (last) guy you’d want to give the puck to,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton said. “But yeah, he’s an incredible player. He’s extremely patient. His vision is super impressive, and when we’re at our best, we don’t do stuff like that. We did it in full measure, and he’ll take advantage of that every time.”

The one-sided result – between both individuals and each of their teams – did not live up to expectations. McKenna held up his end of the bargain, and he knows on most other nights, DuPont will as well.

“Super smart player,” McKenna told the Herald. “He doesn’t make many mistakes out there. Every time he’s out there, you kind of want to watch him and see what he does, and he’s always making the right play. So it’s just a super smart kid who’s got a really good future ahead of him.”

As for DuPont, he hopes this first installment against McKenna and the Tigers will prepare him for the ones ahead.

“We’ve all been kind of struggling, myself included,” DuPont said. “I’ve been not as good as I usually have been. But like I said, we just got to keep building on that and learn from it. … They’re a good team. We might see them down the road, hopefully.”

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