The Everett Silvertips closed out their six-game homestand with three wins this past week, improving to 36-6-2-1 and remaining on top of the WHL standings with 75 points, just one point ahead of Eastern Conference leader Prince Albert (35-6-4-0, 74 points) and 10 points ahead of Penticton (29-9-4-3, 65 points) in the Western Conference.
Everett 5, Kelowna 3
The Silvertips went down 3-0 against Kelowna with just over five minutes left in the second period, and did not get on the scoreboard until there were 17 minutes left before the intermission, but still managed to execute a comeback.
Matias Vanhanen cut it to 3-1 at 19:43 of the second period, handling the puck on his stick inside the right circle with his back to both the net and the closest defender, but the 18-year-old forward quickly spun around and slipped a shot past goalie Harrison Boettiger.
Everett got within a goal at 7:31 of the third period, when Clarke Schaefer rebounded Mattias Uyeda’s shot off the faceoff, and Carter Bear tied it 3-3 at 11:48, calling his own number off the rush after picking up a puck that rimmed around the boards and taking it the other way.
The Rockets took a delay-of-game penalty just 20 seconds after Bear’s tying goal, and Rylan Gould completed the comeback at 12:28, with Tarin Smith perfectly timing a stretch pass to get Gould behind the defense and all alone in front of Boettiger before tucking the puck around his outstretched pad on the breakaway.
Bear iced the game with an empty-netter at 19:51 to make it five unanswered goals for the Silvertips.
Everett 4, Brandon 1
The Silvertips took care of business more simply in their Friday matchup against the Wheat Kings, building up a 3-0 lead through two periods.
Gould put Everett in front 1-0 at 3:02 of the first period with a wraparound goal after Jesse Heslop sent the puck in behind the net from the left point, and Zackary Shantz extended it to 2-0 at 11:54 off a cross-ice pass from Smith just moments after a Brandon penalty expired.
Vanhanen made it 3-0 at 19:44 of the second period after Bear prevented the Wheat Kings from exiting their zone and sent a pass up to Vanhanen from the blue line to set him up for a five-hole shot. Through two periods, Everett outshot Brandon 39-9.
Jaxon Jacobson cut it to 3-1 for Brandon at 4:20 of the third period, but Hunter Rudolph restored the three-goal lead at 12:28 with a shot from the left circle.
Everett 3, Seattle 2
Read The Herald’s full game story here.
While the Thunderbirds scored first to capitalize off a Silvertips turnover at 5:46 of the first period, and tied the game 2-2 at 13:18 of the third period, Everett dominated play from start to finish, ultimately pulling ahead 3-2 just 15 seconds after Seattle tied it with a goal from Heslop.
Jaxsin Vaughan and Julius Miettinen scored the other two goals for the Silvertips, and goalie Anders Miller made 18 saves on 20 shots.
Three Stars of the Week:
First Star: Matias Vanhanen. The 18-year-old forward scored two goals and two assists in three games this week, kickstarting the comeback against Kelowna on Wednesday, scoring the insurance goal against Brandon on Friday and tallying a key assist against Seattle on Saturday.
Second Star: Jesse Heslop. The 19-year-old forward had two assists in Everett’s 4-1 win against Brandon on Friday, and scored the winning goal against Seattle on Saturday.
Third Star: Carter Bear. The 19-year-old forward scored two goals in the comeback win against Kelowna on Wednesday, including the tying goal, and had an assist in each of the latter two games this week.
The week ahead:
Everett has two road games this weekend, but are remaining in the state of Washington for both games. The Silvertips travel to Spokane on Friday, then will return back west to face Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday. Everett is 4-1-0-0 against Spokane this season, and 2-1-0-0 against Seattle.
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