EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips needed Michael Wall to live up to his name Tuesday night.
And Wall delivered in a manner that’s eluded him for much of the season. Michael O’Leary / The Herald
Wall recorded his sixth shutout of the season, making a series of acrobatic saves, and the Silvertips returned from Christmas break with a 2-0 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in a Western Hockey League game.
Alex Leavitt had a goal and an assist and Karel Hromas also scored for Everett (18-10-6-2), which snapped a five-game winless streak.
But it was Wall’s 34 saves that played the biggest role in Everett’s win.
“This game was important because we were winless in five, and I didn’t want to be a part of going six games without winning,” Wall said. “I wanted to come out big in this game to try to snap that.”
Wall’s numbers have been solid this season, but it’s been rare that Wall’s single-handedly won a game for the Silvertips.
However, with Everett playing shorthanded because of international tournament call-ups and Tips showing the rust of the 10-day layoff, it was up to Wall to do the heavy work Tuesday. He did just that, making sprawling saves on rebounds in the first period and making point-blank stops in both the second and third periods.
“Wall was very good, very sharp,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said.
“Every third or fourth game you look for your goalie to be the reason you win and the last two games he’s been the reason we got three points.”
Wall’s sixth shutout also broke the Everett single-season mark for shutouts in a season. Jeff Harvey set the previous record of five last season.
If it hadn’t been for Wall, Spokane could have won going away. The Chiefs outshot the Tips 34-24 and created a slew of quality scoring chances. Everett also had six power plays to Spokane’s two, and Spokane coach Al Conroy voiced his displeasure after the game.
“I thought it was pathetic,” Spokane coach Al Conroy said. “It’s disappointing when somebody else takes the game out of your hands besides the opposition. Our guys busted their butts for three periods, totally outplayed the opposition, and it’s too bad that there’s other people involved.”
Everett received a boost from the recent additions to its roster. The Tips’ fourth line of Brady Mason – who had played just 10 games coming into Tuesday – and newcomers Matt Sawa and Lenny Young helped turn momentum in the second period with some hard hitting that brought the crowd to its feet.
“I thought the young guys played incredible,” Leavitt said. “I thought that one shift they had in the second period where they hemmed them in the zone for 40 seconds and had about 25 hits really changed the momentum of the game at the time. Spokane was really bringing it to us and the fourth line went out and did a hell of a job.”
Everett took the lead with a power-play goal at 11:20. Shaun Heshka’s powerful drive from the left point could only be parried by Spokane goaltender Jim Watt. The rebound came right to Leavitt in the left slot and he put the puck behind Watt, off the post and in to make it 1-0 with his sixth goal of the season.
The Tips effectively ended it at 11:19 of the second period. Leavitt picked up the puck behind the net after an errant shot from the point, then fed Hromas in the left slot for a one-timer that made it 1-0. The goal was Hromas’ 10th of the season.
Slap shots: Forward Jeremy Creurer returned to Everett’s lineup Tuesday. Creurer hadn’t played since Nov. 20 because of a concussion. … Everett was back in its white jerseys at home. In the first half of the season the Tips played home games in their green jerseys.
Silvertips 2, Chiefs 0
Spokane000-0
Everett011-2
First Period-No goals.
Second Period-1, Everett, Leavitt 6 (Wheat, Heshka), 11:20 (pp).
Third Period-2, Everett, Hromas 10 (Leavitt), 11:19.
Shots on goal-Spokane 9-12-13-34. Everett 5-9-10-24. Power-play opportunities-Spokane 0 of 2. Everett 1 of 6.
Goalies-Spokane, Watt 11-14-3 (24 shots, 22 saves). Everett, Wall 13-9-5 (34 shots, 34 saves).
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