Tips Week in Review: Everett sweeps two-game weekend homestand

The Everett Silvertips continued rolling with two wins at home this weekend, extending their point streak to 11 games (8-0-1-2). With a 32-5-3-3 record (70 points) on the season, Everett remains atop the WHL standings, 12 points ahead of the second-place Spokane Chiefs (29-15-0-0, 58 points) with a game in hand.

Everett 5, Brandon 3

In the first meeting between these two sides since Oct. 8, Everett fell behind three times but drew level each time before taking the lead late in the third.

After a scoreless first period, the Wheat Kings opened the scoring at 5:48 of the second period with a power-play goal from Quinn Mantei, but it took the Silvertips just 25 seconds to respond. Winger Shea Busch tied it 1-1, receiving a pass from center Nolan Chastko in the high slot and ripping a wrister to the top left corner.

Brandon retook the lead at 18:05 with a goal from Matteo Michels, which it held into the third period until winger Carter Bear tied it 2-2 at 7:22. Bear picked up the puck from center Cole Temple behind the net, spun around a defender to get in front of the goal line and squeezed a shot in between Wheat Kings goalie Carson Bjarnason and the right post.

Battled back three times and WON IT!

📽️ ROLL THE HIGHLIGHT FILM!#ForEverett | @walottery pic.twitter.com/n03qVzrrkR

— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) January 18, 2025

This time it was Brandon with the quick response, as Mantei wrestled back the 3-2 lead just 19 seconds after Bear’s equalizer, but Bear scored his second of the night at 14:46 to tie it once again. Exceptional status defenseman Landon DuPont corralled Brandon’s clearance attempt at the right point and flung it back on net. Bear got his stick on it in the air and redirected it in for his 29th goal of the season.

Temple seized the lead for Everett with a gorgeous game-winner at 16:57, slicing through the offensive zone past two Brandon defenders to get in on net and make it 4-3. Winger Dominik Rymon’s empty-netter with 17 seconds left marked his 20th goal of the year and sealed the back-and-forth win for the Silvertips.

“Slow start, but yeah, I thought the third period was really good,” Temple told reporters after the game. “We started getting our legs moving and then getting pucks on net, which created a lot of chaos and helped us score those goals.”

Everett 4, Prince George 1

In a Saturday night matchup against a sliding Cougars team, defenseman Tarin Smith struck first to give Everett a 1-0 lead at 6:08. Winger Owen Cooper picked up the puck along the right side of the neutral zone to spark a 3-on-2 rush. He sent a cross-ice pass to Smith, who took advantage of the open space and converted with a wrister.

Prince George forward Terik Parascak tied it 1-1 at 17:43 with his 20th goal of the season, but the Silvertips regained the lead at 8:29 of the second period with a short-handed goal from center Tyler MacKenzie. Rymon broke up a pass and surged up ice with the Cougars power play caught behind. Rymon deked down the left side as MacKenzie caught up to create a 2-on-1, and he ultimately dished it across the crease to MacKenzie for the quick finish.

A night for the dogs = a win over the cats

📽️ ROLL THE HIGHLIGHT FILM!#ForEverett | @walottery pic.twitter.com/VqYcTnitb6

— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) January 19, 2025

Temple followed up the previous night’s game-winner with an insurance tally to double the lead for the Silvertips at 2:40 of the third period, getting behind the defense to redirect center Lukas Kaplan’s shot into the net. Rymon sealed the win at 19:14, breaking up another pass at the blue line and taking the puck up ice with an empty net ahead. He was tripped up on the breakaway, but the officials awarded him the goal to make it 4-1. Goalie Raiden LeGall made 19 saves in the win.

“I thought that was an excellent, complete effort from the guys tonight,” Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton told reporters after the game. “I thought we were all very connected and on point. It’s a dangerous team. I thought we did a good job of just smothering as much as we could and not giving them a lot of free ice and time and space.”

Three Stars of the Week:

First Star: Carter Bear. The 18-year-old winger led the Silvertips with five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in two games this week, including two clutch tying goals and an assist on the game-winner in Friday’s 5-3 victory against Brandon.

Second Star: Cole Temple. The 17-year-old center’s highlight reel-worthy game-winner on Friday caught a lot of attention, and he followed it up with a massive insurance goal the following night against Prince George, which extended his point streak to five games. He has two goals and seven assists in that span.

Third Star: Tarin Smith. The 18-year-old defenseman had a goal, an assist and a plus-three rating in Saturday’s win against Prince George to earn First Star of the game. Additionally, Smith was not on the ice for either even-strength goal that Brandon scored on Friday.

The week ahead

The schedule will be packed in the upcoming week, with four games on the docket for the Silvertips. First will be the WHL’s featured “Wednesday Night in the Dub” game against Spokane, which will be free to stream on the league’s YouTube channel and CHL TV. The top two teams in the league last faced each other on Jan. 10, a 4-2 win for Everett. The Silvertips will then travel to Wenatchee on Friday before coming back to Angel of the Winds Arena to host Seattle and Tri-City on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Everett is 4-1-0-0 against Wenatchee, 4-0-0-1 against Seattle and 2-1-1-0 against Tri-City this season.