EVERETT — For the third time this postseason, the Everett Silvertips went to overtime, and for the third time, they won.
Facing the Portland Winterhawks in Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference Semifinals, Everett took a 1-0 series lead with a 3-2 overtime win. Instead of going deep into double overtime like they did to close out the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 6 of the first round, it took forward Jesse Heslop just 1:34 to settle things with his first goal of the postseason.
#Silvertips win Game 1, 3-2 in OT
Jesse Heslop finishes it off the rush just 1:34 into the extra period. Everett takes a 1-0 series lead over Portland after losing the lead in the final minutes
— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) April 12, 2025
Forward Julius Miettinen sparked a 3-on-2 rush down the left side. He found defenseman Landon DuPont in the middle, and after DuPont attracted the attention of three Winterhawks, the 15-year-old slipped a pass to Heslop, who slowly glided in before slamming the puck home on the right post.
After being denied several times earlier in the game — and earlier in the playoffs — Heslop picked a good time to finally break through.
“I got out there first shift, blood was racing, so I was like, ‘Let’s make something happen,’” Heslop said. “‘Jules’ makes a beautiful pass to ‘Dupes.’ ‘Dupes,’ my (billet) roomie, hits me going to the net, and I just rip it far side. … Nice to finally get one in, and hopefully I can keep building off that.”
DuPont had two assists in his return to action alongside forwards Tyler MacKenzie and Cole Temple. The three had missed the past few games due to injuries, but returned just in time to start the second round series.
“It’s hard to be out and watching from the stands,” DuPont said. “But you know, the boys worked and got past Seattle for all of the injured guys so we could play tonight, and you know, just being in there with the boys was fun.”
Forward Austin Roest and defenseman Tarin Smith scored the other two goals for Everett, and Raiden LeGall made 30 saves. For Portland, goalie Ondrej Stebetak made 40 saves, and defenseman Tyson Jugnauth scored his WHL-leading 17th playoff point with a goal in the first period.
The 20-year-old Jugnauth slipped a shot from the left point through traffic and past LeGall at 8:42 of the first period to open the scoring. The Winterhawks had an opportunity to double their lead when Silvertips forward Shea Busch received a four-minute, double-minor for slew-footing at 11:47. Portland forward Josh Zakreski nearly scored from the right circle, but his shot rang off the post and out. The Winterhawks continued to circle and create chances, but Everett held them off.
The Silvertips nearly tied things in the final minutes of the first after Portland committed a couple turnovers in its own end, but the score remained 1-0 going into the break.
After a quick Portland possession to open the second, Everett took control for practically the entire frame. With the benefit of nearly eight minutes of power-play time, the Silvertips outshot the Winterhawks 21-6 in the second.
“We want to be very direct,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton said. “That’s always kind of part of our game plan, and we want to put pucks on net, get traffic and second, third opportunities. I liked a lot of things we did in the second period.”
Everett received a four-minute power play of its own after forward Dominik Rymon was high-sticked by Winterhawks defenseman Ryder Thompson at 9:36 of the second, and it took the Silvertips 3:48 of it to capitalize.
DuPont carried the puck into the right corner, where two Portland defenders collapsed on him. He managed to hang onto the puck and slip free, sending it back to Rymon at the point. Rymon sent it back to DuPont on the right, and his shot hit Stebetak and rolled out in front to Roest, who punched it home to tie it 1-1 at 13:14.
“This goalie (Stebetak) is known for— we got to use him and use his rebound,” DuPont said. “So I kind of just threw a shot on net hoping it would land in front of ‘Roesty,’ and it did, so he made no mistake with that.”
A minute later, Silvertips defenseman Brek Liske dropped the gloves with Winterhawks forward Diego Buttazzoni for a fight that brought the entire crowd to its feet. Liske said it was Buttzzoni who challenged him, and he liked the trade-off of taking one of their top six forwards off the ice for five minutes.
“Just getting energy, getting the guys going, right?” Liske said. “It’s a 1-1 game, we think we can do better (talking more in the defensive zone), so it’s good to get some energy, for sure.”
The Silvertips continued to push, and finally took the lead at 2:16 of the third period. Defenseman Kaden Hammell delivered the puck down to Smith on the left side, who rocketed a shot past Stebetak to make it 2-1.
With time ticking down, Portland made a push. After defenseman Kayd Ruedig sent a shot off the post midway through the third, defenseman Carter Sotheran tied it 2-2 at 14:23 — just seconds after a Winterhawks power play ended, shooting from the high slot.
“We stayed in our zone too long,” Hamilton said. “We had a couple chances to clear. … They’re a good team, if you give them too many looks, too many resets on the power play, your (penalty) killers are tired and you don’t get the same pressure and the same push, so those are small things that, in a two-minute penalty, add up.”
Each side traded chances in the final three minutes, but the game remained deadlocked until Heslop quickly took care of business on the other side of the break. After going down 1-0 in the first round to Seattle, the Silvertips started things off on the right foot against a different type of opponent.
“They’re a fast team,” Heslop said. “They want to transition fast, so we just got to keep to our game and get it behind them, finish our checks, get pucks to the net, and track back hard.”
— — — — — —
Miettinen scores OT winner in Game 2
Just one night after Jesse Heslop sealed the Game 1 win for Everett, forward Julius Miettinen followed suit in Game 2 to push the Silvertips to a 4-3 overtime win and a 2-0 series lead against the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals at Angel of the Winds Arena.
Just over five minutes into overtime, forward Tyler MacKenzie chased a puck into the left corner of Portland’s zone and flung a pass across the crease, where Miettinen was waiting on the back door to push the puck in and end the game. It marked Everett’s third overtime win in a row, and the team has won all four overtime games so far this postseason.
“We just keep playing like we need to, and I think that’s why we keep winning them,” Miettinen said.
Exceptional status defenseman Landon DuPont scored his first WHL Playoff goal to open the game at 16:49 of the first period, and forwards Austin Roest and Dominik Rymon scored the other two goals for Everett in Game 2. Roest is up to six goals and 11 points through eight games, and he leads the Silvertips in both categories.
Raiden LeGall made 35 saves as he improved to 5-1-0 in the postseason with a .940 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against average. The series continues in Portland on Tuesday and Wednesday for Games 3 and 4. If the Winterhawks win at least one of those games, the series will shift back to Everett on Friday for Game 5.
“I think there’s just a quiet confidence amongst the group,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton said. “They know what needs to be done, and I liked some of the adjustments that they were able to make tonight. Portland’s just a dynamic team, and if you sleep at the wheel at all, it’s going to end poorly. Again, just another — checked a box that we need to do, and got to get to four (wins) in a series, and it’s long way from over.”
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