The Everett Silvertips played three games in as many days this past weekend, all against fellow Washington-based teams to extend their point streak to nine (6-0-1-2) and become the first WHL team to reach 30 wins this season.

The WHL-best Silvertips (30-5-3-3, 66 points) faced competition from the top, bottom and middle of the standings and ultimately gained ground. Everett’s 12-point advantage over Spokane (54 points), whom they defeated 4-2 on Friday, is wider than the gap between Spokane and the two teams tied for 13th in the league (Prince Albert and Brandon, 43 points each).

Everett 4, Spokane 2

In a clash between the top two teams in the league, fresh out of the WHL Trade Deadline on Thursday, the Silvertips came out on top.

Exceptional status defenseman Landon DuPont gave Everett a 1-0 lead at 13:02 of the first period for his 11th goal of the season, but the Chiefs swung into the lead early in the second with two goals scored 32 seconds apart.

That was all goalie Jesse Sanche allowed all night, as the 18-year-old stopped 43-of-45 shots (.956 save percentage), a season-high and his most in a Silvertips uniform. Later in the second, it was Everett’s turn to score two goals within a minute when center Nolan Chastko tied it 2-2 at 17:14 before winger Dominik Ryman scored the eventual game-winner at 17:56.

“It wasn’t the caliber we wanted to play at, obviously,” Sanche told reporters after the game Friday. “[Coach Steve Hamilton] came in after the second and kind of gave us a message, and it worked. We came out in the third and it was our best period.”

Zackary Shantz, Everett’s major deadline acquisition, scored his first goal with the Silvertips when he put the game on ice with an empty-net goal at 19:00 of the third. Meanwhile, Spokane’s big deadline splash Andrew Cristall – who was acquired from the Kelowna Rockets and leads the WHL with 67 points – was held scoreless with a minus-two rating.

Seattle 5, Everett 4 (SO)

The Silvertips followed up their win against the Chiefs with a fast start against the Thunderbirds. Defenseman Tarin Smith and winger Jaxsin Vaughan scored at 6:28 and 8:21 of the first period, respectively, with the latter coming on the power play.

Braeden Cootes cut it to 2-1 at 8:50 of the second period for Seattle, but Chastko scored his second goal in as many games at 9:59 to restore the two-goal lead. Center Cole Temple registered his third assist of the game, setting a WHL career-high for helpers.

Shantz scored what seemed like another inconsequential goal for Everett at 16:38 to extend the lead to 4-1, but the Thunderbirds battled back with a power-play goal at 18:30 followed by Cootes’ second goal of the game just 39 seconds into the third. With 3:40 left in regulation, Seattle’s Nathan Pilling tied it to force overtime.

Despite blowing a 4-1 lead, the Silvertips outshot the Thunderbirds 5-1 in the extra period, but with no score it moved to a shootout. The first seven shooters, including all four from Everett, failed to score, but Seattle’s Brayden Schuurman converted in the fourth round to complete the comeback win.

Everett 4, Tri-City 1

The Silvertips rebounded from the previous night’s slip-up and dominated the Americans from the jump. Defenseman Eric Jamieson opened the scoring for Everett at 11:41 of the first, and winger Carter Bear scored his team-leading 27th goal of the season to make it 2-0 at 18:56.

Defenseman Brek Liske scored his first goal of the season to push it to 3-0 with six seconds remaining in the second period, capping off a dominant 40 minutes in which the Silvertips outshot Tri-City 31-6.

“We really moved pucks well, played in the [offensive] zone. I thought our forecheck was excellent tonight,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton told reporters on Sunday. “We applied a lot of pressure, and then we didn’t mess around. We transitioned right away and got right back at it.”

Americans winger Savin Virk spoiled Sanche’s shutout bid at 2:30 of the third period, but Everett defenseman Kaden Hammell pushed the lead back up to three at 14:19, ultimately putting the game out of reach.

Three Stars of the Week:

First Star: Jesse Sanche. The 18-year-old goalie followed up a strong performance last week with an even better two-game showing this weekend, balancing Friday’s monster 43-save performance with a pedestrian, but solid 13-save win Sunday. Sanche went 2-0-0-0 and allowed just three goals across both games for a .949 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average.

Second Star: Cole Temple. The 17-year-old forward totaled a team-high six points – all assists – across three games this weekend, scoring at least once in each game.

Third Star: Eric Jamieson. The 19-year-old defenseman registered a secondary assist on the tying goal against Spokane on Friday, then had a ‘Gordie Howe hat trick’ in the bounce-back win against Tri-City on Sunday to earn First Star of the Game.

The week ahead

The Silvertips will host Brandon on Friday, then Prince George on Saturday at Angel of the Winds Arena. Everett won their last matchup against the Wheat Kings 4-1 on Oct. 8, while Saturday’s matchup will be the first against the third-place Cougars this season.

In the following couple of weeks, Everett will be featured in two ‘Wednesday Night in the Dub’ Freeview games. The first will be a rematch against Spokane on Jan. 22, and then they will host Medicine Hat a week later on Jan. 29.