EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips were looking for something special to break out of the slump that’s seen their lead ago the WHL’s U.S. Division become tenuous.
Friday night the Tips got that something special, and it just might provide the spark needed as they head down the finishing stretch.
Everett took down the league’s hottest team Friday, knocking off the Calgary Hitmen 7-2 at Xfinity Arena in a result the Tips desperately needed.
“That was huge,” said Everett winger Carson Stadnyk, who led the charge with two goals and an assist. “We were the first team to beat them among the U.S. teams, and they were on a hot streak while we were in a bit of a slump. It was nice to get back in the win column.”
Calgary came into the game on a roll. The Hitmen had won six straight and 15 of their past 16. During those 16 games they outscored their opponents an astounding 79-29. Calgary had rolled through the rest of the U.S. Division, beating each of the other four teams over the previous seven days.
Meanwhile, Everett limped into the game, having dropped six of its previous nine, a stretch that saw the Tips’ lead over Portland at the top of the division shrink to two points.
But Everett got off to a dream start, scoring twice in the game’s first four minutes. Then the Tips used a combination of quality finishing and excellent goaltending from Carter Hart to make the scoreline look far different from how the game was played — Calgary actually outshot Everett 43-29.
“We just got a lot of pucks to the net, crashed the net with three guys going to the net every time,” Stadnyk said. “It turns out we got seven, which is nice, and hopefully we can build off that.”
Dawson Leedahl, Matt Fonteyne, Kohl Bauml, Brayden Low and Nikita Scherbak also scored for Everett (37-18-3-4), which increased its lead over idle Portland to four points. The Tips have played one more game than the Winterhawks.
Hart, playing for the first time since returning from illness, finished with 41 saves. Many of those shots came from the perimeter, but Hart was always in the right position.
“He stood on his head all night,” Stadnyk said of Hart. “It’s huge for him, we need him back there, and for him to have a game like that is good for him and good for our team, too.”
Adam Tambellini scored both goals for Calgary (38-19-1-4), which was playing its fifth road game in eight nights and anticipating a big showdown at league-leading Kelowna on Saturday. Mack Shields started in goal for the Hitmen and allowed five goals on 18 shots before being pulled late in the second period. Brendan Burke stopped nine of 11 in relief.
Everett couldn’t have started any better. The Tips scored on the game’s first shift as Leedahl converted a feed from Bauml just 34 seconds in. Then Stadnyk put in a rebound on the power play at 3:29 to make it 2-0.
Calgary came on hard after that and got one back when the defense fell asleep and allowed Tambellini a free run at goal at 16:09.
The Hitmen piled up the shots in the second period, but it was Everett that got the goals. Fonteyne beat his defender for speed and had a shot pinball past Shields at 11:58. Calgary got back within one again when Tambellini converted a short-handed breakaway at 15:50, but the Tips scored later in the power play on Bauml’s tip 41 seconds later. Low stuffed a rebound off the back boards past Shields with 53.1 seconds remaining to give the Tips control.
The game could have turned early in the third after Betker was given his major penalty. But the Tips managed to kill it off, and Scherbak and Stadnyk added goals midway through the third add the finishing touches.
Slap shots
Everett is looking at playing without two top defensemen in Saturday’s home game against Prince George. Kevin Davis was scratched because of what was described as an upper-body injury. It’s unknown how long Davis will be out, but it’s believed he will miss about a week. Then during the game Ben Betker was assessed a major penalty for a check to the head and faces a probable suspension. … Calgary was without center Pavel Karnaukhov, who was scratched with an unspecified injury. … Friday’s game marked the first return to Xfinity Arena for Calgary defenseman Micheal Zipp. Zipp spent parts of the previous two seasons with the Tips before being dealt to the Hitmen at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for winger Zane Jones.
Silvertips 7, Hitmen 2
Calgary 1 1 0—2
Everett 2 3 2—7
First Period—1, Everett, Leedahl 12 (Bauml, Standyk), 0:34. 2, Everett, Stadnyk 24 (Nikolishin, Juulsen), 3:29 (pp). 3, Calgary, Tambellini 43 (Rankin, Virtanen), 16:09. Penalties—Ta. Sanheim, Calgary (roughing), 2:54; Virtanen, Calgary (slashing), 20:00.
Second Period—4, Everett, Fonteyne 5 (Nikolishin, Betker), 11:58. 5, Calgary, Tambellini 44 (Helgesen), 15:50 (sh). 6, Everett, Bauml 29 (Betker, Scherbak), 16:31 (pp). 7, Everett, Low 14 (Skrumeda, MacDonald), 19:06. Penalties—Ta. Sanheim, Calgary (cross checking), 3:54; Betker, Everett (checking from behind), 3:54; Pfeifer, Everett (slashing), 6:25; Lang, Calgary (high sticking), 15:00.
Third Period—8, Everett, Scherbak 26, 10:19. 9, Everett, Stadnyk 25 (Nikolishin), 11:46. Penalties—Zipp, Calgary (instigator-fighting-10-minute misconduct), 4:23; Betker, Everett (major-checking to the head-fighting-game misconduct), 4:23; Peterson, Calgary (cross checking), 12:31; Kanzig, Calgary (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:53; Low, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:53.
Shots on goal—Calgary 12-21-10—43. Everett 8-10-11—29. Power-play opportunities—Calgary 0 of 3. Everett 2 of 4.
Goalies—Calgary, Shields 25-14-0-2 (18 shots, 13 saves), Burke (11 shots, 9 saves). Everett, Hart 12-4-2-1 (43 shots, 41 saves).
A—6,654.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
