Tips Week in Review: Everett clinches regular season title

With their 2-1 win against the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday, the Everett Silvertips (46-12-4-4, 100 points) clinched the WHL regular season title. It’s the second time in franchise history that Everett won the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (2006-07), but the team is still searching for its first WHL Championship.

There are two regular season games left before the postseason begins on March 28, but the Silvertips won all three games this week en route to securing the trophy.

NUMBER. ONE.

Congratulations to the @WHLSilvertips, who have clinched the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the WHL's regular season champions for the second time in franchise history.

DETAILS:

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 17, 2025

Everett 3, Spokane 2

Squaring off against the Chiefs in a ‘Wednesday Night in the Dub’ matchup, the Silvertips trailed 1-0 early. Will McIsaac knocked in a rebound from the right side 6:02 into the first period after Everett goalie Raiden LeGall (33 saves) fell into a sitting position while making two initial stops.

Just 1:25 later, the Silvertips tied it 1-1 after defenseman Kaden Hammell saved the puck from exiting the offensive zone before flinging it on net from the right point. The shot bounced out to winger Dominik Rymon inside the right circle, and he snapped it to the back of the net.

Defenseman Brek Liske put Everett ahead 2-1 at 11:54 of the first, going bar-down from behind the left circle for just his second goal of the season, and center Tyler MacKenzie extended it to 3-1 at 15:17 of the second period by knocking in a loose puck at the net front.

Spokane’s Andrew Cristall scored his 45th goal of the season on the power play at 11:59 of the third period to cut it to 3-2, but the Silvertips hung on for their first of two wins against the Chiefs in a five-day span.

Everett 5, Portland 3

The Silvertips got off to a fast start against the Winterhawks on Friday, as center Zackary Shantz sprung winger Jaxsin Vaughan on a breakaway just over two minutes into the game. Goalie Ondrei Stebetak stopped Vaughan’s first shot with his left pad, but Vaughan followed up to wrap in the rebound at 2:10 to take a 1-0 lead.

Carter Sotheran tied it 1-1 from behind the right point at 3:00, but the Silvertips scored three straight from 9:54 of the first to 11:19 of the second to take a 4-1 lead. From the right corner, center Lukas Kaplan fed defenseman Rylan Pearce at the point, and Pearce deked to the side of a Portland defender and unleashed a shot to take a 2-1 lead.

Austin Roest, who rejoined the team from the NHL’s Nashville Predators on Jan. 9 and returned to the lineup on March 7 after rehabbing from an undisclosed injury, scored the next two goals. First, the center received a pass from MacKenzie and glided into the high slot to make it 3-1 at 17:08 of the first. Roest extended it to 4-1 at 11:19 of the second by backhanding in a rebound from MacKenzie’s shot off a 2-on-1 rush.

Portland cut it to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 14:09 of the second and a Josh Zakreski goal with less than two minutes left in regulation, but Pearce scored an empty-netter — his second goal of the night and fifth of the season — to hold off the comeback attempt at 19:09 of the third.

Everett 2, Spokane 1

The Silvertips closed out the week with the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy-clinching win against Spokane on Sunday.

Winger Jesse Heslop opened the scoring on the power play at 18:28 of the first period. Exceptional status defenseman Landon DuPont had space behind the high slot and threaded the needle to a wide-open Heslop in the left circle.

Cristall tied it 1-1 at 1:13 of the second period for Spokane, finishing off Berkly Catton’s pass from behind the goal line.

With the score still 1-1 entering the third period, DuPont scored the game-winner while skating backwards to the left point, firing through traffic at 6:14 of the third period to make it 2-1. Goalie Jesse Sanche stopped 20 of 21 shots in the win.

Three Stars of the Week:

First Star: Austin Roest. The 21-year-old center’s two goals propelled Everett to victory against Portland on Friday. Roest also tallied the assist in Wednesday’s game-winner against Spokane. Roest has five points (3 goals, 2 assists) in five games since returning from injury and is hitting his stride at the perfect time heading toward the postseason.

Second Star: Tyler MacKenzie. The 20-year-old center had the primary assist on both of Roest’s goals on Friday, and he scored the game-winner on Wednesday to reach 78 points on the season, which ranks second on the team behind the injured Carter Bear.

Third Star: Landon DuPont. With the winning goal on Sunday as well as the primary assist on the first goal, the 15-year-old defenseman was named First Star of the Game as the Silvertips clinched the regular season title.

The week ahead:

It’s the final week of the regular season, and the Silvertips have just two games before the postseason begins, both coming against Wenatchee in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday. Everett won each of the first four matchups this season, but the Wild won the two most recent ones, including a 3-2 overtime win on Jan. 24.