EVERETT — It took nearly a decade-and-a-half, but the Western Hockey League championship series has finally returned to downtown Everett.

The puck drops for Game 3 between the Everett Silvertips and Swift Current Broncos tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Angel of the Winds Arena. It marks the first WHL finals home game for the Tips since Game 3 of the 2004 championship series. The Medicine Hat Tigers ultimately swept the then-expansion Silvertips in that series.

“It’s really exciting to be back at home and playing in front of our fans,” Everett co-captain Matt Fonteyne said Monday, as he sat at a podium with fellow overagers Patrick Bajkov and Kevin Davis. “It’s a dream come true being here with these guys and the rest of the guys in the room.”

Like each of Everett’s first three playoff series, the teams enter tonight’s Game 3 knotted at 1-1. The difference is that Everett held home-ice advantage through the Western Conference finals before splitting the first two games of the championship series at Swift Current over the weekend.

“Up there both teams played well and this time of year there are only good hockey clubs left,” Everett head coach Dennis Williams said. “It didn’t surprise me that we went 1-1. There were a lot of positives to take out of the weekend and that’s what we stressed (Monday) morning.”

The staff and players chose to focus on the positives following a disappointing 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2. Everett took a 3-0 lead in the opening period only to watch Swift Current battle back to tie the game with under two minutes to go in regulation before winning it in overtime.

Williams and the team talked all season and into the playoffs about having a “short memory” and “pressing the reset button” — win or lose. No one in the organization deviated from that mantra Monday after the Tips missed a chance to take a 2-0 series lead back home.

“We’ve moved on from that, to be quite honest,” Williams said. “Right now we’re focusing on Game 3 and that’s been our mindset.”

Swift Current has a deep well of scoring talent. Five different players have scored for the Broncos in this series as they boast depth up and down the lineup. Glenn Gawdin, Aleksi Heponiemi and Tyler Steenbergen comprise Swift Current’s top line and finished second, third and sixth in regular-season WHL scoring.

However, Broncos head coach Manny Viveiros has shown the willingness to break up that line if need be. Steenbergen forced overtime with the game-tying goal at 18:23 of the third period in Game 2, and Giorgio Estephan won it at 9:27 in overtime off an assist form Matteo Gennaro — who potted the first goal.

“They’re a really good team, especially those forwards,” Davis said. “We just have to keep doing a good job against those guys.”

Everett has shown a propensity to bounce back from losses throughout the playoffs and the Tips have not lost two in a row all postseason. In fact, they closed out first-round opponent Seattle in three straight and second-round opponent Portland in four straight after dropping a game in those series.

The series victory against Tri-City took six games, but the Tips finished the Americans off in Kennewick in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.

“We’ve challenged them to stay focused and not get any outside distractions involved,” Williams said.“Our group has been really good with that. It’s something we’ve stressed all season long and it’s something that we’re going to continue to stress.”

Five different players have found the net for Everett as well, and midseason acquisitions Garrett Pilon and Ondrej Vala each have three assists in the series.

The Tips have already made history by winning a WHL championship series game for the first time in franchise history. That ensures the Tips will play both Games 4 and 5 at home on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. If necessary, the series would return to Swift Current for Games 6 and 7 on Sunday and Monday.

“It’s really exciting to be able to do this for our fans here in Everett for everything they’ve done for us, especially us three being here for the last five years,” Bajkov said. “It’s exciting for them probably just as much as us.”

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