It was a light weekend for the Everett Silvertips, who took care of business in their lone game on Friday to extend their point streak to four games.
The Silvertips (18-2-2-1, 39 points) sit atop the Western Hockey League, just one point ahead of Edmonton (18-6-1-1, 38 points) and seven points clear of Prince George (16-7-0-0, 32 points), the next-closest Western Conference team.
Everett 6, Kelowna 3
At the site of this year’s Memorial Cup, where the Silvertips hope to find themselves in May, Everett quickly got back on track after falling behind 1-0 just 3:32 into the game.
Just 1:35 after Hayden Paupanekis ripped the opening goal off the rush, forward Hunter Rudolph took advantage of an ill-timed Rockets line change to skate all alone across the neutral zone before sending a shot off the post on the breakaway. The rebound bounced out straight to forward Jaxsin Vaughan, who buried the tying goal.
Carter Bear pulled the Silvertips ahead by himself at 11:07 of the first, intercepting a pass near Everett’s blue line while on the penalty kill and surging into a short-handed breakaway, which the 19-year-old forward tucked away for the 2-1 lead.
The Silvertips pushed it to 3-1 on the power play at 14:46, with forward Rylan Gould finishing off a scramble in front of the net after defenseman Landon DuPont sent the puck in from the point. Kelowna cut it to 3-2 at 17:58 after forcing a turnover in Everett’s zone, and Owen Folstrom went top corner to finish off the quick sequence.
Bear flashed more skill early in the second period to restore the two-goal lead, tapping an off-target pass through his legs towards the left circle, where he shot across his body to the far corner to make it 4-2 at 1:30 of the second.
Zackary Shantz tipped in a shot pass from defenseman Brek Liske to make it 5-2 at 3:31 of the second, and DuPont extended it to 6-2 at 7:48, finishing off a slick backhanded pass from Shantz off the rush on a play sparked by forward Jesse Heslop. Hiroki Gojsic added the Rockets’ third goal at 1:46 of the third period for the 6-3 final.
Three Stars of the Week
First Star: Carter Bear. The 19-year-old forward showed off the pedigree that made him a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, mixing power, speed and skill for two goals and one assist.
Second Star: Landon DuPont. The 16-year-old defenseman tallied a goal and an assist, earning Third Star of the game behind Bear and Kelowna’s Paupanekis. With just one game this week, he slots into the Second Star of the week for Everett.
Third Star: Zackary Shantz. The 20-year-old forward tallied the insurance goal and set up DuPont with a great assist to round out a multi-point night.
The week ahead
The Silvertips bookend Thanksgiving with a pair of home matchups against Eastern Conference opponents. Regina comes to town on Wednesday, and Swift Current arrives on Friday in what will be the lone matchup for each team against Everett this season.
The Swift Current game was slated to be a homecoming for former Silvertips assistant Dean DeSilva, who left head coach Steve Hamilton’s staff this offseason to take the Broncos’ head job, but he resigned on Nov. 14 following a five-game suspension and $10,000 fine imposed by the WHL, which found he had breached the league’s standard of conduct in two separate incidents related to disciplining players.
Following the Swift Current matchup, Everett will face Vancouver in a Saturday road matchup to round out the week.
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