The Game
Friday was just your vintage effort from Everett Silvertips goalie Carter Hart.
He demurred afterward, saying most of the shots were perimeter shots, and it’s true that many of them were. However, he also had two spectacular saves on breakaway attempts, and there were several flurries, particularly late in the game where he had to be sharp.
Hart also may have gotten away with one. Monroe native Luke Ormsby crashed the net and appeared to score at 9:03 in the final period, but the referee evidently lost sight of the puck in the crease and blew the play dead per the rules. Seattle head coach Steve Konowalchuk was less than pleased, telling colleague Andy Eide of mynorthwest.com:
“The ref lost the puck. Obviously, he’s not supposed to lose the puck. Tight games like this, tight games, you don’t want to make mistakes like that.”
At any rate, the Tips escaped with a much-needed victory against a surging Seattle team that had beaten Everett three straight times – though just once in regulation.
Everett managed to win despite being without defenseman Lucas Skrumeda (lower-body, day-to-day) and Devon Skoleski, who has been out since receiving stitches during Monday’s game against Kamloops. The Tips also didn’t have winger Dominic Zwerger who was out sick.
Of potential concern is Everett’s continued struggles in five-on-five play, particularly against Seattle. The Tips have just two goals in the last 120 minutes (including Tuesday’s 3-1 loss at Kent) against the T-Birds, and both came on the man advantage. Everett is getting 32.8 percent of its scoring on the power play, and you would like more than 67 percent of your offense coming at even strength.
Friday also featured two first-period fights and I managed to get about half of the first between Aaron Irving and Tyler Adams:
One last note: Friday’s game was Hart’s 16th career shutout (second in club history to Leland Irving) and his 72nd career win to move into a tie with Austin Lotz for second in team history.
The Turning Point
Leading 1-0 with eight minutes to play, the Tips killed off a Noah Juulsen penalty to preserve the lead and went on to the victory.
Three Stars
1. Everett G Carter Hart: The Philadelphia Flyers draftee saved all 33 shots he faced for his WHL-best sixth shutout of the season.
2. Everett F Orrin Centazzo: The rookie scored his fourth goal of the season and it held up for the victory.
3. Everett D Kevin Davis: The veteran blueliner continued his dominance as the power-play QB with another assist.
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