TALKING POINTS
Wow.
That was epic. The players were out on their feet. I’m out on my feet. So even though this was an incredible game — the longest in Silvertips franchise history — this is going to be short and sweet.
Everett came 5.4 seconds away from winning this in regulation, only to have it snatched away late for the second straight game. Then the Tips played the entirety of the two-plus overtimes with just four defensemen as Noah Juulsen went out in the first period and Tristen Pfeifer in the third. But somehow Everett pulled it out.
This ended Everett’s long stretch of playoff futility. Although the Tips have made the playoffs in every season of franchise history, they were eliminated in the first round each of the past seven years. It was somewhat full circle the way the Tips ended the drought, as the last time Everett won a playoff series it happened in Game 6 in Spokane in the first round in 2007.
Everett will now face four-time defending Western Conference champion Portland in the second round, as the Winterhawks also finished off their series in Game 6 in overtime Tuesday night, winning 5-4 in Kent in a game that took a mere 79 minutes. Games 1 and 2 will be Friday and Saturday in Everett.
TURNING POINT
What a moment for Brayden Low. It was 3:43 into the third overtime when the Everett overage winger picked off an errant Chiefs pass behind the Spokane net, skated out front, made a move to go around Spokane goaltender Garret Hughson, then slipped the puck under him to end the series.
THREE STARS
First star: Carter Hart, Everett. 53 saves, is this kid really a 16-year-old rookie?
Second star: Hughson. 39 saves, he had a fantastic series.
Third star: Low. One goal, he scored goals in each of the final four games of the series.
The Herald’s honorable mention: I have no idea how the four defensemen who finished the game for Everett — Ben Betker, Cole MacDonald, Lucas Skrumeda, Kevin Davis — could still stand. An absolutely unbelievable effort by those four.
BOX SCORE
SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Everett 5, Spokane 1
Game 2: Spokane 6, Everett 2
Game 3: Everett 2, Spokane 1 (2OT)
Game 4: Everett 3, Spokane 1
Game 5: Spokane 4, Everett 3 (OT)
Game 6: Everett 2, Spokane 1 (3OT) (Everett wins series 4-2)
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