EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips bounced back with conviction after a 3-2 overtime loss to Seattle on Friday, thrashing Prince George, 6-3, on Saturday at Angel of the Winds Arena.
The Silvertips, playing their seventh game in 10 days, were forced to skate with just 10 forward due to a slew of injuries up front. But it hardly showed against the Cougars
The Silvertips were forced to skate with just 10 forwards due to injuries on Saturday, but it hardly showed against the Cougars, as Everett outshot Prince George, 47-29.
It was emphatic cap to a trecherous stretch for Everett, which played seven games over the last 10 days, claiming 10 out of 14 possible points.
“We played five ‘D’ out there toward the end to give our forwards a break,” Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams said. “You don’t see that too often.
“But our guys are tired. They’ve put in an honest effort and it’s a real gutsy win. And kudos to those guys that played, especially that forward group.”
The Silvertips got plenty of contributions from a variety of players up and down the lineup, as 12 different players recorded a point for Everett.
“This time of year you need everyone to help out and contribute,” Williams said. “I think our guys did a good job of that.”
“Coach (Williams) told us a lot of guys would be playing in different roles and stuff like that,” 16-year-old rookie Jackson Berezowski added. “I think good to get (injuries) out of the way before playoffs, but it gives the young guys confidence playing more minutes. (It) gets our legs under ourselves, especially late in the season.”
Wyatte Wylie broke open the scoring with his 10th goal of the season at the 6:08 mark in the first period.
The 19-year-old defenseman skated up and buried a shot past Prince George goaltender Isaiah DiLaura. Jake Christiansen and Max Patterson were credited with the assists.
Zack Andrusiak followed just 16 seconds later by potting his 35th goal of the season to put Everett up 2-0. Reece Vitelli and Ian Walker picked up the helpers.
Berezowski capped a dominant opening period by deflecting a shot from Gianni Fairbrother past Isaiah DiLaura on the power play for his 11th goal of the season. Artyom Minulin picked up the secondary assist.
Prince George made a goalie change, inserting Taylor Gauthier to start the middle stanza, but Everett put one in his net soon after he entered the game, as
Robbie Holmes scored just his second goal with Everett since being acquired at the Western Hockey League trade deadline on Jan. 10 with a power-play goal at 2:59 in the second. Vitelli threaded a pass across the ice and Holmes one-timed it into an open net.
Kindopp scored the fifth and sixth goals of game for the Silvertips at 6:19 in the second and 2:13 in the third.
Matej Toman scored a pair of goals for the Cougars. Josh Maser scored the other.
Dustin Wolf made 18 of 19 saves before backup goaltender Max Palaga relieved him to start the third. Palaga stopped eight of 10 shots in his one period of action.
The Silvertips dominated the special teams battle, going 3-for-5 on the power play and killing off all four penalties.
Gianni Fairbrother led the Silvertips in points with three assists. Wylie, Holmes, Reece Vitelli and Kindopp each enjoyed multi-point nights as well.
With Vancouver’s 5-4 shootout loss to Victoria on Saturday, the Silvertips picked up a point on the Giants for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference standings. Everett now leads Vancouver by four points, although the Giants possess two games in hand.
“I think we’re a confident bunch,” Berezowski said. “We’re sitting good in the standings, which helps a lot. But you can’t look too much into that, you just have to play good every night, like we did tonight.”
Next up
The Silvertips host Tri-City in a 7:35 p.m. tilt on March 1 at Angel of the Winds Arena.
Notes
—Wylie’s first period goal was his 10th of the season, becoming the third Silvertips defensemen to record double-digit goals for the season. It’s the first time in franchise history the Silvertips have had three defenseman with 10 or more goals in a season.
—Everett wrapped up its four-game regular-season series with the Cougars by winning all four games by a score of 20-6.
—The Silvertips played down a skater after Martin Fasko-Rudas missed Saturday’s game after taking a big hit on Friday against Seattle. Joining him as injured scratches Riley Sutter (lower body) and Dawson Butt (upper body) are listed week-to-week, while Connor Dewar missed his fourth game with an upper-body injury.
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