EVERETT — Many prognosticators figured the Everett Silvertips were in for a rebuilding campaign when the 2017-18 hockey season began last August.
Instead, the Tips are headed back to the WHL Western Conference finals for the first time since 2006.
Carter Hart and Dustin Wolf combined for an unconventional shutout in a 4-0 win in Game 5 of the conference semifinals before 6,220 fans at Angel of the Winds Arena.
Following the mid-period media timeout at 10:38 in the second, Hart immediately skated to the bench and headed down the tunnel to the dressing room with an illness.
“I wasn’t feeling good all day and I just had to get off the ice,” Hart said. “I’m not feeling good right now (either).”
Wolf replaced Hart for the remainder of the second period and saved all four shots he faced. Hart returned for the third and finished with 30 saves to earn the win.
Everett will take on U.S. Division rival Tri-City in Game 1 of the conference finals next Friday at home at 7:35 p.m.
“It’s pretty surreal right now,” said Tips forward Garrett Pilon, one of Everett’s important trade-deadline acquisitions. “Already there is another challenge ahead of us with Tri-Cities. They haven’t lost in the playoffs yet, so it’s going to be a big challenge and it’s going to be a war out there.”
The Tips closed out the Winterhawks with four straight victories after falling 5-2 at home in Game 1.
“It shows the character in our boys to reset and get after it again,” said Tips defenseman Jake Christiansen, who scored twice in the series-clinching victory. “We learned from that first game and came out pretty strong every game after.”
Friday’s win was a monumental victory for an Everett franchise that last reached the conference finals in its third year of existence. The past three seasons the Silvertips have found themselves stymied in the second round. Everett fell in five games to Portland in 2015, in five to Seattle the following season and were swept by Seattle last year.
“They stuck with it through the whole season with the highs and lows,” Everett head coach Dennis Williams said. “They kept believing in each other, and the systems and they just kept working. They’ve been rewarded and now it’s ‘enjoy it for 24 hours’ and then we gotta focus on Tri-Cities.”
This year Everett dispatched both Seattle and Portland in five games while Tri-City rolled in the conference finals with eight straight victories.
“It’s something that we haven’t done in so long,” Hart said. “It’s exciting and this next week off we have to prepare is going to be huge. We have to use it wisely and get our rest and get ready for Tri-City because they’re another strong opponent.”
Everett led 1-0 through two periods. Riley Sutter redirected an Ondrej Vala point shot past Portland goaltender Cole Kehler at 2:49 in the third period for the two-goal advantage.
Gianni Fairbrother pushed it to 3-0 when he won a puck battle behind the net and followed his own rebound at 7:13.
Christiansen’s second goal of the game came of the empty-net variety at 15:57. The third-year Tips blueliner previously opened the scoring at 9:53 in the second period when his point shot beat Kehler with Everett’s Patrick Bajkov setting the screen.
“We were missing the net a lot and when we didn’t, Kehler was really good and we were hitting him right in the logo too much,” Williams said. “I think we started gripping (our sticks) just a little bit, and obviously getting that goal there by Jake with that great screen to get momentum going (was important).”
Everett created several quality chances in the opening period, but was unable to convert. Portland earned the game’s first power play in the final minutes of the first, but Everett killed off the man advantage.
Everett finished with a 43-34 shot advantage and was scoreless in four power-play chances.
Silvertips 4, Winterhawks 0
Portland 0 0 0 — 0
Everett 0 1 3 — 4
1st Period— No Scoring. Penalties—Sutter Evt (tripping), 15:29; Mannek Por (slashing), 17:47; Fonteyne Evt (slashing), 17:47.
2nd Period—1, Everett, Christiansen 1 (Walker, Richards), 9:53. Penalties—De Jong Por (hooking), 1:43; Quigley Por (delay of game), 12:41; De Jong Por (cross checking), 15:01.
3rd Period—2, Everett, Sutter 5 (Vala, Pilon), 2:49. 3, Everett, Fairbrother 1 (Kindopp, Fasko-Rudas), 7:13. 4, Everett, Christiansen 2 15:57 (EN). Penalties—De Jong Por (10-minute misconduct), 16:14; MacEachern Por (slashing), 16:14.
Shots on Goal—Portland 16-7-11-34. Everett 13-16-14-43.
Power Play Opportunities—Portland 0 / 1; Everett 0 / 4.
Goalies—Portland, Kehler (42 shots-39 saves). Everett, Hart (30 shots-30 saves); Wolf (4 shots-4 saves).
A—6,220
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