EVERETT — Shane Harper wrote his name in the Everett Silvertips goal-scoring record book one more time Saturday night.
And the race for the U.S. Division tightened up yet again.
Harper scored his 38th goal of the season, tying the franchise record, and the Silvertips closed back in on first place with a 5-0 victory over the struggling Prince George Cougars at Comcast Arena.
Harper’s second-period goal drew him into a tie with John Lammers for Everett’s single-season goals record. Lammers set the record during the 2005-06 season. Harper, who broke the team’s career goal-scoring record earlier this season, has seven games remaining with which to break the single-season mark.
“There’s been some talk about it the last little while,” Harper said of his latest record. “I’m glad I got there, and now I we can just focus on these last few games heading into the playoffs. But I’m definitely excited to have that, it’s pretty cool.”
Meanwhile, the Tips gained back some of the ground they lost to division-leading Tri-City. The Americans beat the Tips 4-3 in a shootout Friday to stretch the lead over Everett to four points. But Tri-City lost 5-2 at Spokane on Saturday, meaning the lead is now back down to two.
“(Friday) night we were looking at it as a playoff game, but tonight we were also looking at it as a playoff game,” Harper said. “Since we didn’t get the points (Friday) night, we had to come in here and get two points tonight. Even though it wasn’t as big of as a matchup, it was still a big game for us. We need all the points we can get right now.”
Everett took care of its side of business Saturday, earning the full two points from a Prince George team with the worst record in the WHL. Early on the Tips appeared to be suffering from a hangover from Friday night’s thriller against Tri-City. But Everett regrouped in the second period and won the game going away.
“(Friday) night was a great game, so were always worried about the emotions and the energy level for tonight,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “I didn’t think we had a great energy level early, but I thought we got going as it went a long and ended up with a pretty solid effort.
“And they worked hard,” Hartsburg added about the Cougars. “Give them credit, they came out and competed.”
Kellan Tochkin added two goals and an assist — his first goal coming just 37 seconds into the game — for Everett (41-19-3-1), which also maintained a three-point cushion over Spokane for second place in the division. Dan Iwanski and Byron Froese scored the other goals, while Kent Simpson stopped all 24 shots he faced in net for the Tips. The shutout was Simpson’s first of the season.
The Cougars (11-50-1-2) put forth what resistance they could muster. However, a rebuilding Prince George team has a limited amount of skill at its disposal, and with star winger Brett Connolly out with a hip-flexor injury the Cougars had little ammunition to fire at Everett. Even when Prince George threatened, the Cougars were lacking the cutting edge in front of goal.
“I thought we played a pretty good first period,” Prince George coach Dean Clark said. “Although we gave up that first goal 30 seconds in, I thought we had some good chances that we didn’t score on. The second period we made some real soft plays and they played a lot of the game in our own zone. Then in the third we took too many penalties, and you’re not going to get yourself back in the game doing that.”
Hudson Stremmel finished with 24 saves in goal for Prince George, which lost its ninth straight.
Everett got off to a dream start when Tochkin managed to get the puck through a defender, then swept it under Stremmel to make it 1-0 just 37 seconds in.
But Everett couldn’t build upon the goal, spending the remainder of the period turning the puck over, and the best chances fell to the Cougars, who were unable to convert as the period ended 1-0.
The Tips then found their stride during the second period and blew the game open with three goals. Harper made it 2-0 at 3:51, putting a backhander into the top of the net after a feed from Chris Langkow. Everett made it 3-0 at 15:56 when Clayton Cumiskey poked the puck free, angled toward goal, then threaded a pass back for Iwanski to put in. Froese made it 4-0 at 18:04, scoring from in front after Tochkin won a board battle behind the Prince George net.
Tochkin completed the scoring on the power play at 8:19 of the third period, banking a centering feed in off a defender.
Slap shots
Everett prospect Tyler Giebel will be joining the team when it travels to Kamloops for Tuesday’s game. The 16-year-old center, who had 17 goals and 38 assists in 41 games for the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League this season, is eligible to join the Tips because the Regina’s season is over. Giebel, Everett’s second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, will remain with the team for the rest of the season and playoffs. … Promising young Prince George defenseman Jesse Forsberg did not play because of a shoulder injury sustained during Friday’s 5-1 loss at Spokane. Also, veteran forwards Nick Buonassisi and James Dobrowolski were healthy scratches because of performance issues.
Silvertips 5, Cougars 0
Prince George000—0
Everett131—5
First Period—1, Everett, Tochkin 24 (Froese), 0:37. Penalties—Theriau, Everett (hooking), 1:50; Senkerik, Prince George (roughing), 16:34; Maxwell, Everett (high sticking), 16:34; Simpson, Everett (roughing, served by Tochkin), 19:45.
Second Period—2, Everett, Harper 38 (Langkow), 3:51. 3, Everett, Iwanski 7 (Cumiskey, MacDonald), 15:56. 4, Everett, Froese 27 (Tochkin), 18:04. Penalties—Halliday, Prince George (tripping), 19:06; Gudas, Everett (elbowing), 19:47.
Third Period—5, Everett, Tochkin 25 (Maxwell, de la Lande), 8:19 (pp). Penalties—McDonald, Prince George (hooking), 1:56; McDonald, Prince George (hooking), 8:01; Orser, Prince George (interference), 14:06; Orser, Prince George (roughing), 16:49.
Shots on goal—Prince George 9-8-7—24. Everett 7-11-11—29. Power-play opportunities—Prince George 0 of 3. Everett 1 of 5.
Goalies—Prince George, Stremmel 6-22-1-1 (29 shots, 24 saves). Everett, Simpson 20-9-1-0 (24 shots, 24 saves).
A—7,581.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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