Silvertips win 4th straight, beat Kelowna 6-2

KELOWNA, B.C. — The new year is treating the Everett Silvertips well.

Everett remained undefeated in 2010 after beating the depleted Kelowna Rockets 6-2 Wednesday night.

Six different players scored goals for Everett, which has won all four of its games since the new year began. The four-game winning streak matches the Tips’ longest of the season.

Shane Harper had a goal and two assists to lead the Tips (23-16-2-1). Zack Dailey, Josh Winquist, Byron Froese, Kellan Tochkin and Chris Langkow also found the net for Everett. For Winquist it was his first career WHL goal.

Kent Simpson earned the win in goal with 23 saves.

Tyler Halliday and Antoine Corbin scored for Kelowna (19-22-2-0), which was playing short-handed. The Rockets have six regulars out injured, and star winger Brandon McMillan did not play as he just returned from playing for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Adam Brown stopped 31 shots in goal for the Rockets.

For the second straight night the Tips got a top defenseman back. Ryan Murray, who had been away at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, was in the lineup for the first time since before the Christmas break. Radko Gudas, who played for the Czech Republic at World Juniors, returned for Tuesday’s 5-3 victory at Kamloops.

Meanwhile, the Tips were down a forward as Dale Hunt was reassigned to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The 19-year-old Hunt, a former first-round bantam draft pick who the Tips acquired from Prince George last season, had been a healthy scratch in recent games.

Everett sprinted out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Dailey opened the scoring at 5 minutes, 21 seconds when he banked the puck in off a defenseman. The Tips went ahead 2-0 at 14:28, Winquist scoring his first career WHL goal on a rebound. Froese made it 3-0 at 18:50, scoring a short-hander when set up by Tyler Maxwell.

The teams traded goals in the second period. Kelowna got on the board at 8:58 when Halliday backhanded a shot over Simpson’s shoulder to make it 3-1. Everett got the goal back on the power play at 12:18, Tochkin putting in a rebound.

Kelowna made the third period interesting, Corbin scoring on the power play at 13:39 to make it 4-2, and the Rockets hitting the crossbar soon after. But Everett put it away with goals from Harper and Langkow in the final three minutes to complete the scoring.

Silvertips 6, Rockets 2

Everett 3 1 2—6

Kelowna 0 1 1—2

First Period—1, Everett, Dailey 5 (Harper, Rissanen), 5:21. 2, Everett, Winquist 1 (Cumiskey, Theriau), 14:28. 3, Everett, Froese 13 (Maxwell, Murray), 18:50 (sh). Penalties—Corbin, Kelowna (holding), 11:48; Dailey, Everett (hooking), 18:16.

Second Period—4, Kelowna, Halliday 7 (Verdino), 8:58. 5, Everett, Tochkin 14 (Maxwell, Gudas), 12:18 (pp). Penalties—Gudas, Everett (interference), 4:00; Everett bench (too many men, served by Harper), 6:19; Cumiskey, Everett (boarding-fighting), 11:24; Astles, Kelowna (instigator-unsportsmanlike conduct-fighting-game misconduct), 11:24; McCrea, Everett (slashing), 19:14; Matheson, Kelowna (interference), 20:00.

Third Period—6, Kelowna, Corbin 2 (Barrie, McColgan), 13:39 (pp). 7, Everett, Harper 25 (Langkow, Dailey), 17:37. 8, Everett, Langkow 12 (Dailey, Harper), 19:38. Penalties—Johnston, Kelowna (tripping), 3:52; Gudas, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:42; Halliday, Kelowna (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:42; Sohor, Everett (holding), 11:35; Gudas, Everett (hooking), 13:12.

Shots on goal—Everett 9-11-17—37. Kelowna 5-9-11—25. Power-play opportunities—Everett 1 of 4. Kelowna 1 of 6.

Goalies—Everett, Simpson 11-8-1-0 (25 shots, 23 saves). Kelowna, Brown 18-15-1-0 (37 shots, 31 saves).

A—6,068.