The Everett Silvertips limped to the holiday break with a skeleton crew, but the Tips still managed to do so riding positive results.
Everett concluded the first half of the WHL season by going 2-1 last week, including an impressive victory over league-leading Prince George, despite having nearly half a lineup unavailable for various reasons.
When the Tips welcomed Prince George to Angel of the Winds Arena last Wednesday they had nine players unavailable. Seven of those, including co-captain and leading goal scorer Austin Roest, were out injured. Meanwhile, points leader Dominik Rymon was away for Czechia’s preparations for the World Junior Hockey Championships, while key defenseman Eric Jamieson was serving the first game of a two-game suspension for a checking-from-behind major penalty against Portland on Dec. 10.
As a result, Everett faced the league leaders without five of its top nine forwards and three of its top six defensemen. Wednesday’s lineup included two call-ups in 16-year-old forward Clarke Schaefer and 15-year-old defenseman Brek Liske, as well as 16-year-old forward Lukas Kaplan, who was only recently added to the roster permanently after being a call-up on previous occasions this season.
Yet Everett put on an impressive display, outshooting the Cougars 37-27 and scoring the game’s final four goals to rally from a 2-1 second-period deficit. Kaplan’s first career WHL goal, scored on a nice backhander after being set up by Julien Maze, tied it at 2-2 midway through the second period. Beau Courtney’s tip of Teague Patton’s shot late in the second gave the Tips the lead. Hayden Smith added insurance with a tip goal of his own midway through the third, and Patton iced it with a late empty-netter as Everett prevailed 5-2.
The Tips, with similar personnel problems, followed up with a 7-1 home victory over Seattle on Saturday before concluding the first half with a 6-1 defeat at Wenatchee on Sunday.
Everett thus reached the break at 21-13-1-1 and in second place in the U.S. Division, one point behind Wenatchee. Portland is two points behind the Tips in third, but with four games in hand.
Three stars of the week
Third star: Ty Gibson. The 20-year-old defenseman is mostly a steady stay-at-home performer. However, he got himself involved offensively last week, registering a point in all three games. He finished the week with a goal and three assists.
Second star: Tyler Palmer. Despite the lopsided scores, the 20-year-old goaltedner was instrumental in both of Everett’s victories, stopping 25 of 27 shots against Prince George and 43 of 44 against Seattle. In his two starts he finished with a .958 save percentage, and he ended the first half ranked fifth in the WHL with a 2.54 goals against average.
Teague Patton
First star: Patton. The 20-year-old forward was Everett’s offensive leader in both of its victories, registering three points in each contest as he finished the week with three goals and three assists. Acquired during the offseason to fill the Tips’ third overage roster spot, Patton has stepped up big time during Everett’s injury crisis, putting up 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in his past 18 games.
The week ahead
The WHL’s holiday break began following Sunday’s games. Everett has a longer break than usual — 12 days — before resuming play on the road against Seattle on Dec. 30. The Tips will have a relatively manageable second-half schedule as Everett’s 36 games played are the most by any team in the league at the break. The other five U.S. Division teams have played an average of 31.4 games.
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