EVERETT — A number of Everett Silvertips players got to play in front of their families on Everett’s recent road trip to Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but for forward Eetu Tuulola it’s a bit different.
Tuulola’s parents, Marko and Kati, are in town from Finland this week and Tuulola rewarded his folks for making the transatlantic flight when he potted an unassisted wrister from the slot to essentially seal a 3-1 Silvertips win over the Kamloops Blazers before 6,377 fans Saturday at Xfinity Arena.
“It’s nice for me since I haven’t seen them since Christmas,” said Tuulola, who said he didn’t specifically think about scoring a goal in front of his parents. “I just want to score and help my team win and I was lucky to get that goal today.”
Everett (38-12-8-2, 86 points) has now won seven straight and eight of its last nine. The Tips maintained their lead over the Seattle Thunderbirds in the U.S. Division and over the Prince George Cougars for the top spot in the Western Conference. Both the T-birds and Cougars won Saturday.
“It was similar (to Friday’s 4-1 over Portland),” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “We started well both nights, we didn’t have good seconds either night. I thought we were a little bit more consistent with our play tonight, but still we had let-ups in the second for sure each night.”
Nevertheless the Tips came away with the victory to clinch a playoff berth for the 14th consecutive year. They have never missed the postseason in their existence.
Kamloops, which made a recent push to challenge Prince George for the lead in the B.C. Division, slipped to 37-21-2-4 (80 points).
Everett goaltender Carter Hart saved 35 of the 36 shots he faced. He lost the shutout on a Lane Bauer wrister through traffic with a sixth Kamloops skater on with just 46 seconds to play.
That goal was merely academic as Tuulola had put the game out of reach at 9:36 in the third. Tuulola’s goal pushed Everett’s lead to 3-0 and Hart did the rest.
Everett took a 2-0 lead into the second period before the game tilted back toward Kamloops in similar fashion to Everett’s game Friday. The Blazers fired 19 shots at Hart in the frame while the Tips managed just five. Yet Hart was flawless in the period as he kept the shutout intact through 40 minutes.
“I thought we were more consistent throughout the game,” Constantine said. “We knew we didn’t have a great overall team game (Friday) night. I think everybody wanted to be a little more consistent tonight. But it’s sports. You get that two-goal lead and you get comfortable, and the worst thing in hockey is to be comfortable.”
The Tips opened the scoring with yet another bit of deja vu from Friday night. It again came on the second shift of the game as Patrick Bajkov found linemate Matt Fonteyne at the right post from across the slot and Everett led 1-0 just 54 seconds into the contest.
“A big focus point is our start so we came out and got a little bit of a spark, which is nice to be ahead early,” Bajkov said.
Bajkov made it 2-0 at 5:56 in the first when Kevin Davis brilliantly threaded a pass from the right circle to Bajkov at the left post for the easy stash past Ferguson.
“It was an unbelievable pass,” Bajkov said. “It just hit my tape and went in when I set my stick on the ice. Unbelievable pass and all the credit to him as well.”
Constantine lauded his team’s puck movement the past two games that has led to goals like the ones scored by Fonteyne and Bajkov Saturday night.
“I think when you have energy and you’re really into the game, if you’re working and you have have those things… then those things are very possible,” Constantine said. “You gotta pick and choose when and you can’t make those plays when there is congested ice, but when there is open ice our guys have made some nice plays the last two nights.”
Kamloops goalie Dylan Ferguson recorded 24 saves. Ferguson got the nod over Connor Ingram, who along with Hart suited up for Team Canada at January’s World Junior Championship.
The Tips return to action at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday against the T-Birds at ShoWare Center.
Silvertips 3, Blazers 1
Kamloops 0 0 1 — 1
Everett 2 0 1 — 3
1st Period—1, Everett, Fonteyne 16 (Bajkov, Davis), 0:54. 2, Everett, Bajkov 25 (Davis, Zwerger), 5:56. Penalties—Shepard Kam (checking from behind), 2:15; Skoleski Evt (interference), 12:12; Kneen Kam (high sticking), 19:33.
2nd Period—No Scoring. Penalties—Sutter Evt (tripping), 7:48.
3rd Period—3, Everett, Tuulola 16 9:36. 4, Kamloops, Bauer 36 (Vala, Pilon), 19:14. Penalties—Vala Kam (interference), 5:11; Richards Evt (interference), 15:12.
Shots on Goal—Kamloops 6-19-11-36. Everett 10-5-12-27.
Power Play Opportunities—Kamloops 0 / 3; Everett 0 / 3.
Goalies—Kamloops, Ferguson 14-10-0-2 (27 shots-24 saves). Everett, Hart 27-7-6-1 (36 shots-35 saves).
A—6,377
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