Wyatte Wylie buried a one-on-one chance with Warrors goalie Brodan Salmond to propel the Silvertips to a 2-1 overtime win on Friday at Moose Jaw. It was Everett’s first action past 60 minutes this season. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 of 22 shots.
After dropping Saskatoon on Wednesday, Everett is alone atop the U.S. Division with 18 points.
🚨 WYLIE 🚨
🍏 Kindopp pic.twitter.com/F7h82JMcUH
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) October 27, 2018
Defensemen carry scoring load: Everett isn’t particularly deep at forward, but its strong defense can augment the scoring at times. Friday proved to be one of those times, with Wylie notching the overtime winner and Sahvan Khaira chipping in a goal in regulation.
The goal from Wylie was particularly refreshing. The 18-year-old defenseman is a talented player in the offensive zone, but it he’s never put up gaudy goal-scoring numbers. But with three goals in 14 games, Wylie is on pace for about 14 this season, which would be a very healthy output from the Flyers prospect.
Khaira is considered more of a physical, stay-at-home defenseman, but he’s had some good fortune in the offensive zone this season. With Khaira potting his third goal of the season to tie the game at one, the overage blueliner is well on his way to set a career-high in goals. The Langley, British Columbia owns three goals over 14 games after tallying six in 65 games with Swift Current last season.
Has Dustin Wolf earned an off-day? The short answer to that question is, of course, yes. The 17-year-old netminder has started all 14 games for the Silvertips this season, and he’s played very well, posting a 1.80 goals allowed average and a .927 save percentage in 834 minutes played, which leads the WHL.
He’s lifted his game even higher in the second half of the Silvertips’ Eastern Conference road trip, relinquishing just one goal in key wins over Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, two teams I wouldn’t be shocked to see claim playoff berths and advance a round or two. It’s possible Danton Belluk, the Tips’ third-string goaltender who was recalled after Blake Lyda landed on the injury report with an upper-body injury sustained on Oct. 12, gets a look in the final game of the road trip at Swift Current on Saturday, a team in complete rebuild mode after going all-in for a Memorial Cup run last season. But if Wolf is willing and able to go, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him in net, because the Silvertips’ No. 1 goaltender gives Everett the best chance it ends its road trip on a positive note.
UP NEXT
Everett takes on Swift Current, which, to put it kindly, is struggling this season. The Broncos own just two points in 13 games and have been outscored 26 to 59 this season. The Broncos’ bright spot is goaltender Joel Hofer, a fourth-round pick by the Blues in 2018, who been peppered 446 shots at in 10 games. He owns a 4.43 goals allowed average, which isn’t great, but the high propensity of shots is drives that number way up. He’s stopping 90.1 percent of shots, a respectable clip.
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