The Game
Survive and advance. It’s the mantra of March (in this case not limited to the NCAA Tournament). The Everett Silvertips survived a tough road game as they slogged out a 2-0 win at Victoria Tuesday night to reclaim the series lead at 2-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals. While Everett only advances to Wednesday’s Game 4 back at Save-On-Foods Centre, this was a huge win to take back the tide of series from the eighth-seeded Royals.
Carter Hart saved 13 shots in the third period and finished with a 25-save shutout and the Everett penalty kill showed signs of its league-best regular-season performance.
“(Hart) did his job and he made the saves he needed to make to keep it at bay,” Everett assistant coach Mitch Love said in a postgame interview on 1380 KRKO-AM. “We’ve talked about it all year about how good we’ve been when we score that first goal and it was evident again tonight. He did his job. Through the first 30 minutes of the hockey game we gave up seven shots so we must have done something well as a team there, but again I thought both teams didn’t look too sharp tonight and it kind of was a sloppy hockey game.”
Victoria was without second-leading scorer Jack Walker, and his absence was acutely felt on the Victoria power-play unit. Walker quarterbacks that group and 10 of his 31 regular-season goals along with 22 of his 41 regular-season assists came on the man advantage. Both goals and one of his two assists in the first two games of this series also came on the power play.
Meanwhile the Everett power play scored its fifth and sixth goals of the series:
.@patrickbajkov snipes, @WHLsilvertips lead. #EVTvsVIC #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/kdj7eADeoG
— #WHLPlayoffs (@TheWHL) March 29, 2017
.@tuuski23 blowin’ it up. Everett ahead by two. #EVTvsVIC #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/ED5BP4QpdI
— #WHLPlayoffs (@TheWHL) March 29, 2017
Everett is still missing centers Riley Sutter and Devon Skoleski, and the Tips suffered a scary moment in the first period when Brian King to a knee-to-knee hit from Ryan Peckford and left the ice. King, who has been pressed into center duty in the absence of Sutter and Skoleski, eventually returned.
The Turning Point
Dominic Zwerger was assessed an embellishment penalty at 9:01 in the third with Everett leading 2-0. The Tips killed it off and with it Victoria’s last significant chance to regain momentum.
Three Stars
1. Everett F Patrick Bajkov: The Nanaimo native had a goal and an assist in his return to Vancouver Island.
2. Victoria F Regan Nagy
3. Everett G Carter Hart: The Western Conference Goaltender of the Year stopped all 25 shots he saw for his second career playoff shutout.
Honorable mention: Everett F Dominic Zwerger (two assists), Everett F Eetu Tuulola (insurance goal), Victoria G Griffen Outhouse (19 saves on 21 shots).
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