EVERETT — The final score of the Everett Silvertips’ 3-2 win against the Tri-City Americans on Sunday does not jump off the page, especially not compared to their 9-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds the night before.
However, despite the difference in the final margins between the two games, the level of dominance was similar in all other measures. After outshooting Seattle 53-20 on Saturday, the Silvertips outshot Tri-City 60-18.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Leading up to Everett’s second goal against the Americans early in the second period on Sunday, the fourth line of Henri Ament, Mirco Dufour and Hunter Rudolph teamed up with the top defensive pair of Tarin Smith and Landon DuPont to sustain an offensive zone shift that lasted an entire minute, pressuring Tri-City with a relentless forecheck to prevent a zone exit whenever they didn’t have the puck on their sticks.
It lasted long enough that the fourth line managed to swap out with the top line of Matias Vanhanen, Julius Miettinen and Carter Bear without skipping a beat. DuPont pinched in along the right boards as the forwards made the change, knocking the puck behind Tri-City’s net before the Americans tried to regroup by sending it back up to winger Ismail Abougouche along the boards. Bear charged in on the forecheck, which caused Abougouche’s attempted pass to fall in front of Vanhanen.
The 18-year-old rookie prevented the puck from exiting the zone at the point and quickly passed it back up to Bear, who was already behind the Americans’ three forwards and had plenty of space to drift in and shoot across his body to beat Tri-City goalie Ryan Grout to the far side post, giving the Silvertips a 2-0 lead at 4:43 of the second period with his 31st goal of the season.
“They’re just buzzing and on the puck,” Everett coach Steve Hamilton said. “Every time it was loose, they were right there. … Once you spread the zone, you got to force the other team to sort it out, and if they don’t, then you can reset it below the goal line, you can get shots through and good things happen. That’s exactly what we need from (the fourth) line, is to set the tone. High pace, good energy and then obviously you get following up with (Miettinen’s) line, and those guys convert a little bit more easily.”
With the team’s stars elevating the rest of the roster, which has established a high floor throughout the season, Everett looks like not only the top WHL team, but arguably the best in the entire CHL. The Silvertips’ win against the Americans on Sunday marked their 15th in the past 16 games. The lone loss — a 3-1 defeat to Calgary on Feb. 16 — came at the tail end of a long road trip through Alberta, during which the team played five games in a seven-day span.
Bear brushed off any potential excuses regarding the schedule, stating that the WHL is all about traveling and “showing up to games that might be difficult.” The team also received five days off following the Alberta trip, which gave them plenty of rest heading into this final stretch.
Rested or not, Everett keeps showing up, and makes it look easy.
“That’s just how our team plays,” Bear told The Herald after Sunday’s game. “I think we roll all four, all four lines go. We like to play fast, like to keep it in the O-zone. Once you get in the D-zone, want to get a quick out and we go right back in the O-zone, and just wear teams down. That’s just our expectation as a team, to wear teams down and just roll all four lines.”
With 11 games left in the regular season, the Silvertips sit four points ahead of Eastern Conference leader Prince Albert (44-8-5-0, 93 points) atop the league standings with a 47-7-2-1 record. Just three days after locking up a playoff spot for the 23rd consecutive season with a 6-3 win against Red Deer on Feb. 10, Everett clinched the U.S. Division title with an 8-4 win over Lethbridge on Feb. 13.
Barring disaster down the stretch, the Silvertips will finish as the top seed in the Western Conference. They will also remain in the mix for the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy, awarded to the regular-season champion. It would be the franchise’s second in a row and third overall.
Even with its playoff position all but set, Everett has not let off the gas.
“I think the room’s still excited,” DuPont told The Herald. “We locked up the division, but we want more than that. We want the whole conference, and then obviously the whole league. So I think we’re just motivated to keep pushing for that.”
According to Hamilton, concerns about complacency never crossed his mind with this group of players.
“I just don’t think that’s the DNA of this team,” Hamilton said. “I don’t ever sense that they’re going to just show up and see how it goes. There’s a real commitment as a group to be the best version of ourselves night in and night out. I have all the respect in the world for the leaders of our team, and the guys that send the message and then walk that line, too. It’s just an expectation: When you put the jersey on, we play hard.
“And we haven’t accomplished anything. That’s really a big piece of it, is try to find ways to get better here and the last stretch of games before the playoffs. That takes effort. You got to be committed to trying to get better and not just being happy with where we are.”
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