Connor Dewar’s two-goal, two-assist night bolstered Everett’s struggling offense in a 5-3 win over Edmonton on Friday.
Speaking of Dewar…
‘That Dewar’s so hot right now’: Will Ferrell as ‘Mugatu’ in Zoolander said it best.
The 19-year-old forward is a proven goal scorer in the WHL, lighting the lamp 38 times as an 18-year-old last season, but the tear he’s on is just ridiculous, especially for an Everett squad that struggled mightily to manufacture goals entering Friday.
He’s on pace for 58 goals and 48 assists this season, which would total 106 points.
There is a point where Everett hopes he doesn’t need to be an over point-per-game type of player and the secondary scoring is more pronounced. For now, they’ll just enjoy the ride.
What’s more is Dewar is playing out of position plenty this season with Everett only containing two true centers on its roster. The Manitoba native centered rookie Gage Goncalves and Bryce Kindopp and went ahead and posted a four-point night — and messed around and won 71.4 percent (15 of 21) of his faceoffs, too.
“Who’s our most reliable guy defensively and who’s the most fearless competitor who can defend hard down low? That’s Connor Dewar,” Williams said. “He gets out there and late in the game we’re able to put him Riley, Bryce and him back together to play a little bit of a heavier line down the stretch at times. … Every game Dewar just goes. It’s a joy to be able to coach him.”
The evolution of Butt: Dawson Butt is a fan favorite for his physical presence on the ice.
But there’s more to him than that. Unlocking his overall game will be an asset this season for the Silvertips.
“He can rip it,” Williams said. “(He’s a) Strong kid and the one thing we talked about is he’s got to be a hockey player. He can’t just run around and do all the extracurricular stuff. The game is past that. He likes to finish checks, but he also can score goals and he can get to those tough areas. It’s great to see him rewarded. The guys were pretty excited for him, they gave him the ‘hard hat,’ the player of the game award. … Hopefully that’s a confidence boost to him and he’s able to put together a couple of good games coming up here.”
The 19-year-old forward contributed just a goal and two assists in 45 games for the Silvertips in 2017-2018.
A prove it game: It was a favorable time for Everett’s sticks to light up. Edmonton’s Trey Fix-Wolansky and Vince Loschiavo are two of the more capable scorers in the league for a more than capable offensive team in the Oil Kings.
A five-goal outburst felt good.
“It’s really nice,” Dewar said. “It’s really frustrating losing a lot of one-goal games with empty-netters and such. To put a few in, it’s nice. Hopefully we build off it and keep it going.”
Notes
- The Silvertips mostly employed a power-play unit with Jake Christiansen at the point, Wyatt Wylie on the left wall, Riley Sutter on the right, Bryce Kindopp in the middle and Dewar net front.
- Rookie defenseman Ronan Seeley recorded his first WHL point, a secondary assist on Kindopp’s game-winner on the power play.
- Nineteen-year-old forward Luke Ormsby was unavailable tonight due to a lower-body injury. His status for Saturday’s tilt against Kamloops is questionable.
Quotables
Dewar on giving defense and goaltending a breather: “It’s really nice. They bail us out a lot and it’s nice to be able to bail them out on the other end.”
Williams on the forwards: “I thought our group up front did a really nice job. And having (Dewey) go center isn’t the easiest, but he’s not going to complain about it, he’s going to give you his best effort and for him to lead us there doesn’t surprise me. I thought him and Bryce (Kindopp) and Riley (Sutter) did a nice job leading the job up front and having the other guys follow suit.”
Williams on defense: “I thought we were really sound, to be honest. They came out in the third for the first 10 minutes and got maybe 10 shots, and they kind of tilted the ice right off that. I was happy with our effort. … I can’t be upset with our defensive play, we didn’t give up many opportunities and Dustin and net had a solid night.”
Williams on secondary Sharp, Butt: “I thought some guys picked up. I thought Bronson Sharp had a good game. I thought Dawson Butt had a big game. They play the game hard and honest and they were able to get their nose dirty along the walls and get pucks out. What they’re able to do doesn’t get noticed by a lot of people, but from a coaching standpoint they played a lot of minutes tonight and they were good at it.”
Butt on physical play: “It’s always good to get the boys going with some hits, separate the puck from the body.”
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