Herald staff
LANGLEY, British Columbia — It took longer than normal, but the Everett Silvertips came out on top Friday night as they knocked off the Vancouver Giants 5-4 in a shootout Friday before 3,015 fans at Langley Events Centre.
Carter Hart stoned all three Giants shooters and Eetu Tuulola scored through Vancouver goaltender Ryan Kubic’s legs as the U.S. Division and Western Conference-leading Silvertips (21-3-4-0, 46 points) outlasted the Giants in a contest Everett never led.
Vancouver (11-17-1-2, 25 points) led the game four different times thanks largely to Kubic’s 49 saves. Everett outshot Vancouver 53-21 for the game while winning its first shootout of the year.
The Giants led 3-2 entering the third, but Everett’s Noah Juulsen tied it at 2:52 in the third when his shot deflected off two Vancouver players into the net.
Tyler Benson regained the lead for Vancouver at 9:05 when he tipped in Dylan Plouffe’s shot, but Everett tied it yet again when Dominic Zwerger tipped in Jake Christiansen’s shot to make it 4-4 at 9:57.
The seesaw battle was a continuation of what was a back-and-forth second stanza. Jack Flaman broke a 2-2 tie with a one-timer off an assist from Tyler Benson at 14:45 in the second for the Giants.
A 33-second flurry earlier in the second produced three goals and set up Flaman’s goal.
With Everett trailing 1-0, Sean Richards scored from the slot to tie it up at 3:14. Just 25 seconds later, Vancouver’s Radovan Bondra scored his team-leading 18th goal on a tap-in from the front of the net.
But the Tips answered eight seconds later on the very next shift when Tuulola found the net from the point at 3:47.
The Silvertips controlled the pace early in the first period, but it was the Giants who struck first at 8:25 in the first.
Everett turned the puck over in its defensive zone and Thomas Foster fired a shot off the post from the slot that hit the post. Foster followed his shot and potted the rebound past Hart for the 1-0 Giants lead.
The Tips return to action tonight at 7 when they travel to Portland.
Silvertips 5, Giants 4 (SO)
Everett0220—5
Vancouver1210—4
1st Period—1, Vancouver, Foster 7 (Baer, Malm), 8:25. Penalties—Kichton Van (checking from behind), 4:46.
2nd Period—2, Everett, Richards 5 (Bajkov, Fonteyne), 3:14. 3, Vancouver, Bondra 18 (Foster, Wesley), 3:39. 4, Everett, Tuulola 7 (Christiansen, Skoleski), 3:47. 5, Vancouver, Flaman 9 (Benson, Ronning), 14:45. Penalties—Plouffe Van (tripping), 4:14; Semchuk Van (checking from behind), 10:18.
3rd Period—6, Everett, Juulsen 9 (Bajkov), 2:52. 7, Vancouver, Benson 9 (Plouffe, Baer), 9:05. 8, Everett, Zwerger 11 (Christiansen, Davis), 9:57. Penalties—None.
OT Period—No Scoring. Penalties—None.
Shootout—Everett 1 (Tuulola G, Zwerger NG), Vancouver 0 (Benson NG, Bondra NG, Foster NG).
Shots on Goal—Everett 10-27-11-5-1-54. Vancouver 6-8-5-2-0-21.
Power Play Opportunities—Everett 0/3; Vancouver 0/0.
Goalies—Everett, Hart 16-3-4-0 (21 shots-17 saves). Vancouver, Kubic 9-13-1-2 (53 shots-49 saves).
A—3,015
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