EVERETT — It felt as if the Everett Silvertips were playing in “eff it” mode.
The WHL leaders in wins (24), points (51) and points percentage (.850) have steamrolled through the first half of their schedule this season, scoring four or more goals in 19 out of 30 games and winning by a three-plus goal margin in 12.
So when the Silvertips fell behind by two goals on three separate occasions in the first 22 minutes against the Spokane Chiefs at Angel of the Winds Arena on Saturday, it was almost as if they were toying with their U.S. Division rival.
Of course, they weren’t. Not purposely, at least. But after outshooting the Chiefs 23-7 in the first period and dominating possession, the game never felt out of hand despite the deficits, including when it became 4-2 early in the second period.
“We just gifted the first three, four goals against,” Everett coach Steve Hamilton said. “Even then, we scratched and clawed to get back into it. And our defensive awareness tonight was not what I would expect. … We didn’t assess the threats very well early on, and then you’re vulnerable to a quick strike, and we got hit with that a few times. It’s just choices, and I didn’t think we lacked jump or juice. Energy was good, so I wasn’t concerned about that part of it at all.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Matias Vanhanen cut the score to 4-3 midway through the second period, and Brek Liske scored both the tying and winning goals just 1:36 apart in the third period before an empty-netter from Julius Miettinen secured a 6-4 comeback victory, Everett’s eighth win in nine games.
“I think we’re a very versatile team,” Liske said. “We can win a lot of different ways. We can gut it out. We can obviously win by a couple of goals, right? But I think we’re just the most versatile team there is, and that’s why we win most of our games.”
Miettinen (two goals, two assists) and Vanhanen (one goal, three assists) led the scoring with four points each, and Liske added two goals and one assist.
The Silvertips left more to be desired on the power play, going 1-for-6 on their chances. However, the lone power-play goal cut the score to 2-1 at 16:12 of the first period after Spokane scored twice in the first 10:10, and the goal to trim the deficit to 3-2 came just seconds after another power-play opportunity expired early in the second period.
“They were big-time goals,” Miettinen said. “Like of course you need a response out of your team when things don’t go your way. So yeah, that was a great way to step up today and share the win.”
Tristen Buckley opened the scoring for the Chiefs off a defensive zone turnover from Liske at 4:21 before Cohen Harris took a rebound from Silvertips forward Rhys Jamieson’s shot the other way and roofed it past Everett starter Raiden LeGall at 10:10.
The Silvertips could not find their way past Spokane goalie Carter Esler until Miettinen finished off a passing sequence from Landon DuPont and Vanhanen on the power play at 16:12. However, just 2:23 later, Tarin Smith bumped into Clarke Schaefer while bringing the puck up ice, turning it over. Nolan Chastko could not recover it behind the net, and Harris sent it in front for Chase Harrington to make it 3-1.
The Chiefs put Everett back on the power play with 43 seconds left in the first period, and the man-advantage carried over into the second. After initially struggling to re-establish possession in the offensive zone coming out of the intermission, Rylan Gould found Jamieson in front from behind the net to cut it to 3-2 at 1:23, just six seconds after the penalty expired.
Once again, the one-goal deficit was short-lived, as Spokane went back ahead 4-2 just 11 seconds later when Brody Gillespie took the puck up the right side and beat LeGall off the rush. After allowing four goals on just eight shots, LeGall received the hook and Anders Miller entered in relief.
Evidently, the change worked. On top of the Silvertips forwards building on their opportunities — ultimately leading to Vanhanen cutting it to 4-3 by finishing off a play with Miettinen at 11:06 of the second period — Miller made several key saves to keep the game within reach. He stopped Sam Oremba and Mathis Preston on breakaways within a span of three minutes, and shut the door on a tap-in attempt at 14:10.
“I have all kinds of respect for our goaltenders, and I don’t take any pride in having to make goalie changes, especially mid-game,” Hamilton said. “I mean, we just flat-out didn’t defend very well in front of (LeGall), and left him in a bad spot. And sometimes the change is more to send a message to the guys on the bench that we need to be more accountable. And like I said, when you make that change, it’s tough on the goalies. It’s tough on the guy coming out, tough on the guy going in.
“But (Miller), I thought, really responded and there was a couple nuclear-grade chances against there in the second period that could’ve really changed the overall outcome of the game, so he made some big saves.”
Arguably his biggest stop came at 17:50 of the second period. After the Chiefs had an apparent goal waved off due to a hooking penalty from Logan Wormald, he ultimately broke free out of the penalty box when the two minutes expired, leading Smith to trip him up in order to prevent a sure breakaway shot. Officials awarded Wormald a penalty shot, and a prime opportunity to put Spokane back ahead by two.
As Wormald closed in, rapidly switching between forehand and backhand, Miller squared up and took away a good shooting angle as the opportunity was turned away.
“That was huge,” Liske said. “Momentum right away. We all got up in the bench. Just gave us that energy. We came out of that, I think, flying, so he helped a lot.”
After a key Everett penalty kill midway through the third period, Liske tied it 4-4 from the right circle at 13:43, finishing off a passing sequence with a shot over Esler’s glove shoulder.
It took just 1:36 for him to find the winner, as Miettinen won a board battle behind the net and sent it out to Liske in nearly the same spot for the go-ahead tally at 15:19.
“I just got the puck and he was there, so I gave it to him,” Miettinen said with a chuckle. “Simple as that.”
Spokane pulled Esler in the final couple minutes to try and find the tying goal, but Miettinen iced the game with an empty-netter from over half the distance of the ice with 25.7 seconds left. He skated through the neutral zone with both arms raised as Angel of the Winds Arena flooded with the sound of cowbells.
Liske was on the ice for three of Spokane’s four goals, but ultimately he and his Everett teammates remained resilient. The Silvertips are rolling, and the rest of the WHL is trying to keep up.
“Honestly, it’s a lot, right?” Liske said. “Start the game (with a minus-three rating), it’s not what you would want to do, and finish strong, I guess. Two beautiful passes by Dufour and Miettinen. All I had to do was shoot the puck. So I’ll take it.”
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