KENNEWICK – Finally, the Everett Silvertips know what it feels like to win again.
The Silvertips put an end to a month’s worth of frustration, defeating the Tri-City Americans 2-0 Sunday night in a Western Hockey League game.
With the victory, Everett (22-21-6-2) put to rest what proved to be a nightmarish January, in which the Silvertips finished 4-10, including nine losses in the 10 games leading up to Sunday. Everett also snapped its five-game losing streak and won on the road for the first time since Dec. 3, a stretch of 11 games.
The Silvertips, who moved back into a tie for second place in the U.S. Division with idle Portland, hope the victory provides a springboard for February, when Everett plays eight of its 12 games at home.
Michael Wall, who’s had his struggles recently, was stellar in goal for Everett. Wall finished with 29 saves, including several big stops in the final two periods. The shutout was Wall’s eighth of the season.
Wall’s heroics kept Everett in the game long enough for Shaun Heshka’s goal early in the third period to put the Silvertips in front. Alex Leavitt added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Carey Price made 23 saves in goal for Tri-City (17-23-5-3), which lost its third straight.
Little happened in the first period as the teams combined for 15 shots on goal, none of which found the net. There also were no penalties called during the period.
The game remained scoreless after two periods, but Everett had to hang on to keep it that way. Tri-City controlled play for most of the period, out-shooting Everett 13-6, and that was only because the Silvertips had a late flurry of shots on the power play.
Everett finally broke the scoreless tie 1 minute, 36 seconds into the third period. Ryan Blatchford won a faceoff, with the puck going back to Heshka at the right point. Heshka’s shot through traffic got past Price for the first goal of the game. The goal was Heshka’s seventh of the season.
The Silvertips held off the Americans for the remainder of the period, and Leavitt clinched the victory, scoring into an empty net with 38.3 seconds remaining.
Slap shots: Everett center Mark Kress was a late scratch. The reason Kress was scratched was not known. Kress recently missed six weeks because of a fractured arm.
Silvertips 2, Americans 0
Everett002-2
Tri-City000-0
First Period-No goals.
Second Period-No goals.
Third Period-1, Everett, Heshka 7 (Blatchford), 1:36. 2, Everett, Leavitt 12 (Annesley), 19:21 (en).
Shots on goal-Everett 5-6-13-24. Tri-City 10-13-6-29. Power-play opportunities-Everett 0 of 4. Tri-City 0 of 2.
Goalies-Everett, Wall 17-16-5 (29 shots, 29 saves). Tri-City, Price 15-22-5 (23 shots, 22 saves).
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