First Things First
Let’s acknowledge that a WHL franchise tweeted a GIF of North Korean “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un applauding to celebrate a 3-0 lead after two periods.
After 40 minutes on #TomLysiakNight we lead @bdnwheatkings 3 to 0. @Mark_Rassell with the lone goal pic.twitter.com/ZGffRiUzOe
— Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) February 26, 2017
OK, let’s carry on.
The Game
Saturday’s 3-1 Everett Silvertips win over the Kamloops Blazers bore striking resemblance to Friday’s 4-1 win over the Portland Winterhawks. In both games the Tips got an early lead, suffered a difficult second period in which Carter Hart was tested flawlessly and scored a late goal to seal the game in the third. On Saturday it was the big Finn Eetu Tuulola who tallied the clincher in front of his folks who are visiting from Suomi:
The silver lining was that the Tips seemed to recover better Saturday and played Kamloops even in the final period as the Blazers tallied a dozen shots to Everett’s 11. On Friday the Tips were outshot 15-7 in the final period and 32-16 over the final 40 minutes.
“You can’t let up when you get a lead (but) you do,” head coach Kevin Constantine said. “You have to guard against that. We were, I thought, a little better tonight. I thought we played more consistently tonight. We didn’t have a lot of let-up, but still they had some great chances in the second period.”
Hart missed out on his league-best ninth shutout when Lane Bauer (a former teammate of current Tips defenseman Aaron Irving in Edmonton) scored with 46 seconds remaining in the game and Kamloops netminder Dylan Ferguson pulled. It’s the second time in the past two weeks Hart has lost a shutout in the final minutes with the opposition bringing on the extra attacker. It also happened last week at Moose Jaw.
Tips forward Patrick Bajkov had a goal and an assist in the first six minutes, then took a puck to the face in the second period and immediately skated off the ice. He missed several shifts, but was back out there before the end of the period.
“I quickly jumped in the tunnel and (trainer) Rob (Tagle) put some glue on it and held it together,” Bajkov said. “He’s a huge part of this team, obviously probably one of the most important with injuries and stuff like this so all the credit to him.”
The top line finished with four points (one night after tallying nine) and Matt Fonteyne tallied his first goal since Jan. 22 – a span of 14 games.
Lastly, Hart lofted a shot toward the opposing empty net from his own crease. It missed, and by how much is up for interpretation:
For those wondering (ahem, @WHL_alt_facts) here was Constantine's assessment of Hart's shot attempt: pic.twitter.com/WXkri0DS0w
— Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) February 26, 2017
Tuulola, if you watched the video, said Hart missed by “a couple of feet.”
The Turning Point
Tuulola scored midway through the final period to push Everett’s lead to 3-0. The Blazers got a late goal that would have made the final 46 second significantly more interesting if they’d been down a single goal instead of two.
Three Stars
1. Everett G Carter Hart: The Philadelphia Flyers signee had 35 saves and narrowly missed a shutout as he won his seventh straight game.
2. Everett F Patrick Bajkov: Bajkov finished with a goal and an assist.
3. Everett D Kevin Davis: The blueliner assisted Everett’s first two goals.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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