The season keeps moving along for the Western Hockey League, which capped off a November full of standings shuffling and big-time performances all around. For the Everett Silvertips, contributions from up and down the lineup continued to spring them forward, while the Seattle Thunderbirds’ scoring inconsistencies have seemingly set them back.
Everett Silvertips
Everett hosted the rival Portland Winterhawks on Friday at Angel of the Winds Arena, looking to avenge Sunday’s loss in Portland. The Silvertips started slowly by giving up the first three goals of the game and trailing 3-0 after the first period. Goaltender Tyler Palmer was pulled for Ethan Chadwick after the frame.
The Silvertips responded, and the ice tilted drastically in the second, with Everett scoring six unanswered goals and completely shutting the door defensively en route to a 6-3 win. Teague Patton had a natural hat trick in the second, while Nashville Predators prospect Austin Roest scored the game winner in the third.
Everett’s win improved the team to 11-2-1 on home ice this season, trailing only the Wenatchee Wild for the best home winning percentage in the WHL.
The Silvertips followed that up with a night in Kamloops, beginning a five-game road trip across British Columbia and Alberta. Scoring opportunities were plentiful for both sides all night as both the Blazers and Silvertips would tally three goals during regulation. In overtime, it would be Silvertip forward Dominik Rymon going top shelf to seal the game for Everett, 4-3 the final.
Continuing through B.C., Everett headed up to Prince George for a pair with the top team in the Western Conference. The Silvertips didn’t capitalize on a solid performance from Palmer Monday night, a 3-1 loss, but they did pull through in front of Chadwick on Tuesday. Two-point efforts from Julius Miettinen (1-1—2) and Austin Roest (2-0—2) helped in taking down the Cougars 4-3 and keeping Everett near the top of the conference standings.
Seattle Thunderbirds
For everything that went right for the Silvertips this month, it’s been about the opposite for the Thunderbirds. On Friday they took on the Saskatoon Blades, coming off being shut out in their previous two games. The offense continued to be lackluster, only managing to squeak one by Blades goaltender Evan Gardner and leading to a 3-1 loss. Before the third-period goal from Antonio Martorana, the T-birds went their previous 10 periods of hockey without scoring a non-empty-net goal. That’s over three games worth of hockey.
Not much changed on Saturday when Seattle traveled up to Kelowna. Even with the T-birds putting 45 shots on Rockets netminder Jari Kykkanen, only two found their way through. A continued struggle throughout the month of November for the T-birds was the inability to score in bunches, as just twice across 10 games did they net more than two goals in a period. Seattle’s 4-2 loss capped off its month at 3-6-1, and it continued to fall in the Western Conference standings.
U.S. Division performer of the week
If Spokane is going to turn around its season, it’s going to be on the back of its goaltending, specifically 18-year-old Dawson Cowan. Cowan appeared in three games for the Chiefs this week, only allowing four goals on the 106 shots he faced versus Victoria, Portland, and Saskatoon.
Oh, and he was credited with a goal on Sunday in Portland, the first of his career.
Cowan’s performance was enough to be named WHL Goalie of the Week. The Manitoba native will be eligible for selection at the 2024 NHL Draft.
Kraken CHL highlight
With the Seattle Kraken having four second-round selections in the 2023 NHL Draft, there was speculation they would pick a defenseman with at least one of those selections. Where did they turn? Lukas Dragicevic of the Tri-City Americans, who became the first Kraken prospect to play in the U.S. Division. Many Kraken fans were elated to know they would get to see his development on a nightly basis.
Dragicevic’s play in transition and offensive awareness for a defenseman is a large reason why the Kraken selected him No. 57 overall in 2023. Dragicevic currently leads all Tri-City defensemen in points and is continuing to find creative ways to spring the offensive play.
The week ahead
Everett continues its Canadian road trip in Edmonton and Red Deer on Saturday and will then be idle until the following Friday. Seattle remains at home this week, taking on Kelowna once again on Saturday. They then welcome the Victoria Royals to accesso ShoWare Center on Tuesday.
0 Comments