TALKING POINTS
This was a solid performance by Everett.
The Tips had the better of the play during the first two periods, but Tri-City goaltender Eric Comrie is considered perhaps the best in the WHL for a reason. Comrie made several excellent saves, particularly during the first five minutes of the second period, to keep Tri-City within 1-0 going into the third.
This is a scenario that has come back to bite the Tips in the past, as teams rallied in the third after Everett failed to kill the game off while controlling the first two periods. However, tonight there was never really a sense that was going to happen. The Tips didn’t give up much of anything in the way of scoring chances, and they scored 1:13 into the third to ease any tension.
This continued Everett’s excellent form at home. The Tips haven’t been home much the past month-plus. But this was Everett’s seventh straight win at Xfinity Arena, dating back to Dec. 13. At home in 2015 Everett is now 4-0 and has outscored its opponent 22-5.
Portland lost 6-3 at Seattle tonight, meaning Everett’s lead atop the U.S. Division was stretched back to five points. With the Winterhawks being idle Saturday (while Everett has a re-match with Tri-City in Kennewick), that mean’s Sunday’s game between the Tips and the Winterhawks in Everett will not be a first-place showdown.
TURNING POINT
There were two big moments tonight that shaped the game.
The first moment came at the very end of a sterile first period. Tri-City had possession of the puck in its own end with eight seconds remaining and little in the way of forechecking pressure. It seemed inevitable the Americans would run the clock out and the period would end scoreless. But Tri-City defenseman Riley Hillis decided to rim the puck around his own net thinking it would kill the clock. Instead, Dawson Leedahl cut the puck off along the boards before it exited the zone and pushed it into the corner for Carson Stadnyk. Stadnyk, knowing the clock was running down, spun a desperation shot toward goal. The puck went off Comrie, and Kohl Bauml banged it in just as the period expired. It went to a video review and the goal was awarded with just 0.1 seconds remaining. That’s as late as it gets, and it’s a goal that really shouldn’t have happened.
The second moment was Everett’s goal early in the third, and it required unconventional means for the Tips to finally beat Comrie again. The puck was behind the goal line when Brayden Low got to it, turned and fired a slap shot that banked off the back of Comrie and into the net. That goal ensured the Tips couldn’t lose because of one fluky play.
THREE STARS
First star: Leedahl. One goal and one assist, a huge play to not give up on the period ending for Everett’s first goal, then scored on a rebound during a delayed penalty after he’d been slashed behind the play for the Tips’ third.
Second star: Austin Lotz, Everett. 19 saves, came three minutes away from a shutout, but didn’t have much to do and probably wouldn’t have gotten a star had that goal come before votes were collected.
Third star: Remi Laurencelle, Everett. One assist, showed his usual hustle.
The Herald’s honorable mention: I’m going to go ahead and give the nod to Comrie, because he made some really good saves to keep the game close in the second period. He finished with 30 stops.
BOX SCORE
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