PORTLAND, Ore. — The Everett Silvertips are returning home with a commanding series lead, and they have their first born-and-bred Snohomish County player to thank.
Everett native Wyatte Wylie’s shot trickled through Portland goaltender Cole Kehler and over the goal line as the Tips knocked off the Winterhawks 3-2 in Game 4 of the Western Hockey League Western Conference semifinals before 7,312 fans at Moda Center on Thursday.
“It was a really good play on the (zone) entry, and we had a lot of bodies going to the net,” Everett coach Dennis Williams said in a postgame phone interview. “When you see something like that happen, then you just gotta put it there.”
The Tips lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can eliminate the Winterhawks on Friday with a win in Game 5 at Angel of the Winds Arena.
Everett goalie Carter Hart finished with 42 saves as the Winterhawks outshot the Tips 44-26 and held Everett to just a dozen shots through two periods. The two-time defending WHL Goaltender of the Year kept Portland off the scoreboard for the first 45-plus minutes of the game.
“He was really good — really, really good. Really dialed in,” Williams said. “His rebound control was fantastic, his positioning was great, and he was definitely the major factor there up until the last two minutes of that game.”
Wylie’s goal capped a remarkable final three minutes that featured two lead changes in a span of 55 seconds.
Portland took its only lead at 2-1 on Henri Jokiharju’s power-play goal at 17:53 in the third period.
But Everett’s Garrett Pilon answered with a rebound goal on the ensuing shift at 18:02.
“We talked all night about getting more traffic and pucks on net. (Connor Dewar) throws it on net and we get the rebound goal off it,” Williams said. “As we said all night, just throw pucks on net and good things can happen, and it definitely worked out there in our favor.”
Wylie’s shot then trickled over the line 46 seconds later for the eventual game-winner.
Everett led 1-0 through two periods. Portland’s Brendan De Jong tied the game from the top of the left circle at 5:14 in the third period and set up Jokiharju’s go-ahead tally.
Hart had previously maintained the shutout throughout two periods with some stellar play in the second period.
The Everett netminder stoned a Kieffer Bellows breakaway with a pad save as Bellows left the penalty box late in the period. Hart kept the shutout intact with a diving stick save with 30 seconds to go in the second period while Everett was killing a penalty.
Despite being largely outplayed for most of the first period, Dewar gave the Tips the lead at 18:59 when he redirected a shot from Wylie for the 1-0 advantage.
Everett finished 0-for-5 on the power play while Portland was 1-for-3.
Dewar, Pilon and Wylie all finished with a goal and an assist.
Game 5 begins at 7:35 p.m. Friday.
Silvertips 3, Winterhawks 2
Everett 1 0 2 – 3
Portland 0 0 2 – 2
1st Period-1, Everett, Dewar 4 (Wylie, Pilon), 18:59. Penalties-Walker Evt (cross checking), 9:44; Overhardt Por (roughing), 11:32.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Hughes Por (holding), 0:46; Bellows Por (slashing), 15:15; Dewar Evt (holding opp. stick), 18:53.
3rd Period-2, Portland, De Jong 1 (Blichfeld, Overhardt), 5:14. 3, Portland, Jokiharju 3 (Bellows, Glass), 17:53 (PP). 4, Everett, Pilon 6 (Dewar, Sutter), 18:02. 5, Everett, Wylie 1 (Bajkov, Fonteyne), 18:48. Penalties-Overhardt Por (delay of game), 1:12; Bellows Por (high sticking), 2:17; Vala Evt (delay of game), 17:05.
Shots on Goal-Everett 9-3-14-26. Portland 16-12-16-44.
Power Play Opportunities-Everett 0 / 5; Portland 1 / 3.
Goalies-Everett, Hart (44 shots-42 saves). Portland, Kehler (26 shots-23 saves).
A-7,312
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