EVERETT — Heading towards the final minute of regulation at Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday, it looked like Game 5 of the WHL Western Conference Semifinals between the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks was heading exactly where three of the previous four games had gone: overtime.
Portland had taken three separate leads in Game 5, and Everett tied it each time. On the other side of the break, the Silvertips would try to be the ones to take the lead — and in that case, the win — but the Winterhawks had other plans.
With the puck rolling towards the left point of Everett’s zone as the clock ticked towards the final minute, Portland defenseman Tyson Jugnauth flung the puck ahead to keep it in the zone. He fired it straight to forward Hudson Darby’s stick in the slot, which deflected into the crossbar. The puck bounced back into play, but the official was already swinging his arm to signal a goal. With a minute remaining, the shot slipped under the bar to give Portland a 4-3 lead.
“Sort of lost it in the corner,” Silvertips goalie Raiden LeGall said. “Went up top, and yeah, just a great play by them. I mean, do that 10 times, it’s not going to happen 10 times, and it was a great tip. I sort of heard the back bar, pretty sure it hit the back bar, but a little weird they didn’t review it. But it is what it is.”
The Silvertips pulled LeGall for the final minute and brought on an extra attacker to try and tie the game, but with such little time left, Portland held on to secure the 4-3 victory. After Everett started with a 2-0 series lead, they now trail 3-2 and face elimination Saturday on the road for Game 6. All but one of the first five games were decided by one goal, and the only exception was by two (3-1 Portland win in Game 3).
Winterhawks win 4-3
Darby’s last-minute tally makes the difference, and Everett goes from a 2-0 series lead to down 3-2 on the verge of elimination.
Game 6 is in Portland tomorrow@HeraldNetSports
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Despite the close score line, Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton was not happy with his side’s performance.
“I didn’t think we were nearly as good as we needed to be tonight, just collectively,” Hamilton said. “We kind of chased the game the whole time. Unnecessary, uncharacteristic turnovers, they capitalized on them. That’s not who we needed to be tonight.”
LeGall made 32 saves, and defenseman Landon DuPont led Everett’s scoring with a goal and an assist. In addition to Darby’s game-winner for Portland, captain Kyle Chyzowski scored twice, and Jugnauth had two assists.
In a first period littered with penalties, the Winterhawks took control first. After allowing two separate odd-man rushes from Portland while on a power play, the Silvertips gift-wrapped the Winterhawks nearly two full minutes of a 5-on-3 power-play when forwards Shea Busch (interference) and Tyler MacKenzie (delay of game) committed penalties five seconds apart.
The Silvertips and LeGall held off until both penalties were less than 10 seconds away from ending, but Winterhawks forward Josh Zakreski batted in a net-front rebound at 12:53 of the first period. Everett had a chance to respond when Darby went to the penalty box for hooking at 16:04, and it took just 15 seconds to capitalize when MacKenzie found DuPont in the right circle from behind the net to tie it 1-1.
The Silvertips had a strong start to the second period, controlling play for most of the first five minutes, but Portland went back ahead 2-1 at 14:10 of the second. The puck popped into the air and fell behind LeGall in front of the goal line. Hammell got his stick on it, but the puck went straight to Chyzowski, who fired into the open net.
Before things could get out of hand, Everett tied it 2-2 about a minute later, with Busch finding Hammell streaking down the right side.
“Whether it’s me or anybody else, I think we’re obviously going to be trying to win the game,” Hammell said. “So scoring goals like that’s obviously nice, but … it didn’t end up going our way, and going into tomorrow with a positive mindset, like I said, so we’re gonna go take care of business.”
It took Portland just 30 seconds into the third period to regain the lead, as forward Alex Weiermair worked the puck in around LeGall and Chyzowski poked it across to make it 3-2, but Julius Miettinen pulled the Silvertips back level with a net-front tip at 6:43.
With the Silvertips’ season on the line, they will have to find a way to stop the bleeding if they want to force a Game 7, which would take place Tuesday in Everett.
“We need to reset ourselves tonight, obviously traveling to Portland, get up tomorrow. It’s a new day, new opportunity,” Hamilton said. “It’s just about being in the moment, and tomorrow is an opportunity for us to check a third box in the series, that’s all it is.”
— — — — — —
Silvertips force Game 7 in 8-4 drubbing
When Kaden Hammell said the Silvertips would “take care of business” after Friday’s 4-3 loss in Game 5, he meant it. The Silvertips wasted no time in Game 6 on Saturday.
Lukas Kaplan scored 44 seconds into the game, and Everett did not look back. A Landon DuPont power-play goal with 17 seconds left in the first period made it 3-1, and goals from Jesse Heslop and Tyler MacKenzie within the first 1:31 of the second period quickly made it 5-1. The Winterhawks cut it as close as 5-3 midway through the second period, but Everett scored three more times down the stretch to force a decisive Game 7.
Seven Silvertips had multi-point games, led by forward Austin Roest (one goal, three assists), MacKenzie and DuPont (one goal, two assists each). Jesse Sanche made 27 saves in the win, his first start since April 1, a 6-3 loss to Seattle in Game 3 of the first round.
With a Western Conference Finals berth on the line, Everett will face Portland one last time this year at Angel of the Winds Arena on Tuesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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