The Game
First off, Wanz of “Thrift Shop” fame took a break from poppin’ tags to sing the National Anthem:
LISTEN / Big welcome and thanks to @teewanz for delivering tonight's national anthem!
? » https://t.co/8BzKwbP3bT pic.twitter.com/sWAmZX0Z8w
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) January 12, 2017
The game itself began sluggishly and ended emphatically as the Everett Silvertips knocked off the Spokane Chiefs 5-0 Wednesday to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Tips outshot the Chiefs 9-4 in the first period, but four of those shots came on Everett’s first power play with less than three minutes to go in the frame. The Tips didn’t connect and the teams went into the first intermission knotted 0-0.
Everett held a 25-19 shot advantage over the last two frames, but five of its shots found the net as the Tips dominated the final 40 minutes. Brandson Hein opened the scoring with his first career goal.
So much was Everett’s domination that affiliate goalie Dorrin Luding, who has been with the team in Carter Hart’s absence, got in the game with about seven minutes to go. He immediately helped kill off a Spokane power play to preserve the shutout and finished with five stops on five shots.
Congrats to @D_Luding29 who made his @TheWHL debut with @WHLsilvertips & got his share of the 5-0 shutout win! https://t.co/S2GoLXaXrL
— Valley West Hawks (@vwhawks) January 12, 2017
Defenseman Kevin Davis finished with an assist to keep his point streak intact at 13, but forward Dominic Zwerger saw his point streak snapped at 11 against his former team. The real story Wednesday was the contributions of the Manitoba-born players, and the overall performance from the bottom three lines.
The second line of Connor Dewar-Devon Skoleski-Bryce Kindopp produced two goals and two assists. The third line of Sean Richards-Riley Sutter-Eetu Tuulola had a goal and two assists, and the fourth line of Brandson Hein-Bradly Goethals-Orrin Centazzo produced a goal and three assists. In fact, the top line of Dominic Zwerger-Matt Fonteyne-Patrick Bajkov was held without a point for first time in a long while.
Explosion in the last 40 minutes, 11 on the scoresheet. TIPS WIN!!
? » https://t.co/VmBcZ3yHx0 pic.twitter.com/lzpKv63Lzj
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) January 12, 2017
This was an important victory for Everett, which has floundered a bit since coming back from the holiday break and missing Hart and Noah Juulsen. The Tips now embark on a crazy schedule that includes four games in five days beginning Friday at Kamloops. The silver lining is that Juulsen and Hart will return Friday.
Everett is also expecting defenseman Aaron Irving back for Friday’s game. The recently acquired blueliner sat out Wednesday’s game with a minor knee injury.
With both Irving and Lucas Skrumeda out the Tips played three 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds among their six defensemen.
The Turning Point
Hein put the Tips on the scoreboard less than three minutes into the second period and Everett cruised from there.
Three Stars
1. Everett F Devon Skoleski: The Manitoba native had a goal and an assist to finish plus-two.
2. Everett F Bradly Goethals: The Manitoba native had two assists to finish plus-two.
3. Everett G Mario Petit: The Manitoba native saved all 18 shots he faced in a combined shutout.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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