Silvertips’ season-best winning streak halted by T-birds

The Everett Silvertips’ season-best winning streak is over, but it took a superhuman effort to end it.

Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender Scott Ratzlaff stood on his head, turning away 62 shots as the T-birds defeated the Tips 3-1 Saturday evening in Kent to snap Everett’s eight-game winning streak.

Everett had been perfect since falling 5-4 in a shootout on Jan. 5 at Portland. Not only had the Tips won all their games, they did it in style as they outscored their opponents 45-16 and battered them on the shot clock.

Against Seattle the shot clock was even more tilted in Everett’s direction, as the Tips outshot the T-birds 63-22. But despite putting 16 shots on net in the first period, 24 in the second and 23 in the third, Everett didn’t get a puck past Ratzlaff until just 1 minute, 44 seconds remained in the game, when Caden Brown scored to cut Everett’s deficit to 2-1. The Tips then got a power play with 1:20 remaining, but Seattle clinched it with an empty netter with 25 seconds remaining.

Ratzlaff’s 62 saves were the most by a WHL goaltender in a start this season. The previous high was 59 by Calgary’s Ethan Buenaventura, which also happened to come against Everett in a game the Tips won 6-4 in Calgary on Nov. 3. It also wasn’t the first time Ratzlaff, an 18-year-old who was a fifth-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2023 NHL draft and also was a member of Canada’s team for the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championships, had a big effort against Everett. He posted 54 saves in a 4-2 Tips home victory on Jan. 6 in the game that started Everett’s eight-game winning streak.

Earlier in the week Everett won 4-3 at Kelowna on Wednesday, with Carter Bear scoring the game-winning goal with just 1:31 remaining in regulation. The results gave the Tips a 1-1 week, putting Everett at 30-15-1-2, and the Tips remain solidly in third place in the Western Conference.

“I thought our group played well in both games,” Everett coach Dennis Williams said via text message. “We had a little tough luck with scoring and finishing off plays, but I felt we did a good job controlling the play and competing. It allows us to have a good reset, learn and refocus.”

Everett played the Seattle game without leading goal scorer Dominik Rymon, who sat the game out with an upper-body injury. Williams said Rymon is day-to-day.

Three stars of the week

Third star: Bear. The 17-year-old forward’s rookie season continues to roll along as he posted a goal and an assist across the two games. With 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 48 games Bear, who as a late birthdate is not eligible for the NHL draft until 2025, ranks fifth in the league in scoring among rookies.

Second star: Jesse Heslop. The 17-year-old forward was the architect against the Rockets, as he started and finished the move that resulted in the opening goal, then threaded an inch-perfect saucer pass through the defense to set up Bear’s winner.

First star: Brown. The 18-year-old forward was a significant addition from Prince George during the offseason, but he didn’t get much chance to show what he could before he was sidelined by a long-term lower-body injury. But he’s now back and producing as he had a goal and two assists last week. He has four goals and two assists in six games since returning.

The week ahead

Everett is gearing up for its busiest week of the season as the Tips play five times in six nights.

It begins with road games against strugglers Spokane and Tri-City on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both the Chiefs (17-22-4-0) and Americans (17-26-2-1) are involved in the race to make the playoffs, with Spokane currently occupying the conference’s eighth-and-final spot. Both teams have an electric 17-year-old forward in Spokane’s Berkly Catton (31 goals, 40 assists) and Tri-City’s Jordan Gavin (18 goals, 31 assists).

Everett then has one day off before a three-in-three weekend that sees Spokane come to Everett on Friday, the Tips head to Vancouver on Saturday, then Everett return home to host Wenatchee on Sunday. Vancouver (20-24-3-0) is on a bit of a run after being a surprise buyer at the trade deadline, with 19-year-old forward Connor Levis registering five goals and two assists in seven games since arriving from Kamloops. Wenatchee (27-16-4-0) continues to be Everett’s closest pursuer for third in the conference, with 19-year-old forward Kenta Isogai (25 goals, 45 assists) among the league’s leading scorers.