The Everett Silvertips have been one of the big surprises in the Western Hockey League this season, and they hope to continue that momentum as the second half of the season gets under way tonight.
For the U.S. Division-leading Silvertips (23-4-5-0, 53 points) the second half begins in the same place where the first half started — at Langley Events Centre against the Vancouver Giants before the teams return to Xfinity Arena on Wednesday for a back-to-back home-and-home series.
In fact, it was a home-and-home with Vancouver to start the season that provided the first indication this Silvertips team might be headed for a special year. Everett opened with a 7-3 win at Langley — matching last year’s season-high for goals in a game — and followed it up with a 3-1 victory at home.
The Tips opened the season with three straight wins and an 8-1-1 stretch. They’ve had winning streaks of four, five and six games this year and closed the first half on a three-game winning streak.
Everett also faces a two-week trip to Manitoba and Saskatchewan to take on the six teams in the East Division. The Tips got a taste of that during a 12-day stretch in mid-October that saw them travel to Prince George, Spokane twice, Victoria and Kelowna. They finished 5-1-1 in that stretch.
“We’ve survived a lot of travel early in the year, we’ve survived a slew of injuries and we’ve done OK while missing a couple of top players lately,” said Everett head coach Kevin Constantine, referring to the absence of defenseman Noah Juulsen and goalie Carter Hart, who are competing with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. “So the team has shown some resiliency in the different little challenges they’ve been able to meet it.”
The trade deadline also looms Jan. 10, and the Tips could be in the market to add some depth either at forward or on the blue line.
None of that means much tonight, however, when the puck drops at 7 at LEC.
The Giants (13-18-1-2, 29 points) are last in the B.C. Division and in the Western Conference. Vancouver opened the season with four consecutive losses and won just one of its first eight games. The Giants, who went to back-to-back Memorial Cups a decade ago, haven’t made the playoffs the past two seasons and have reached the postseason just once in the past four years.
Vancouver took Everett to a shootout that the Tips won back on Dec. 9, and the Giants boast individual talent in the likes of Tyler Benson (10 goals, 27 assists), Radovan Bondra (18 goals, 11 assists), Ty Ronning (11 goals, 16 assists) and Thomas Foster (10 goals, 11 assists).
Goaltending has been an issue as Ryan Kubic has a record of 11-14-1-2, a goals-against average of 3.55 and a save percentage of .891.
Patrick Bajkov (17 goals, 27 assists) and Dominic Zwerger (13 goals, 24 assists) have been Everett’s top point producers. Defenseman Kevin Davis has three goals and 23 assists, Matt Fonteyne has eight goals and 15 assists, and Riley Sutter has 11 goals and seven helpers.
Juulsen (nine goals, 11 assists) and Hart (16-3-4-0, 1.85 GAA, .928) aren’t scheduled to rejoin the Tips until the middle of the month. That leaves Mario Petit (7-1-1, 2.59 GAA, .911) to continue holding things down in the crease.
The teams reprise the series at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Xfinity Arena.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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