The Everett Silvertips were going to need quite the miracle to claw out of the 3-0 hole they dug for themselves against the Portland Winterhawks.
Portland’s endurance would reign superior in Game 4 on Friday, as a furious attack in the second and third periods with five unanswered goals was too much for Everett to overcome. The Winterhawks would wind up with a 5-0 win and take the best-of-seven series 4-0.
Portland will begin the Western Conference Finals on Friday night in Prince George, B.C., facing the Cougars for the right to go to the WHL Finals.
Quick and easy work for Portland…
Games 1 and 2 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum were defensive disasters for the Silvertips, which would be a recurring theme throughout the series.
They were often soft on pucks in the defensive/neutral zones and allowed Portland attackers to find high-danger chances in open ice with ease. Portland took both games by a combined score of 14-3, and carried a 2-0 series lead back to Everett.
Tyler Palmer saw 72 shots in Games 1 and 2 and came out with just a .833 save percentage. While he showed flashes of the Round 1 dominance he demonstrated against the Vancouver Giants, most of the nights during this series, he was relied on to do the bulk of the heavy lifting for the Silvertips. The weight might have been too heavy for him to bear.
Palmer was lifted after 40 minutes in Game 1, replaced by Ethan Chadwick, after allowing six goals on 29 shots.
Game 3 was the biggest jolt of offense for Everett in the series. Back home at Angel of the Winds Arena, the Silvertips jumped up to a 3-0 lead at the start of the second. But a furious comeback from Portland in the second and third, including two goals from Carter Sotheran (along with a lucky bounce), helped the Winterhawks to win 4-3 in overtime.
Portland controlled the pace of play for basically the entire series, outside of half of Game 3 on Monday night. Everett scored two or more consecutive goals just once during this series, and Portland continuously mounted surges to wear out Palmer.
Five unanswered goals in Game 4 sealed the series sweep for the Winterhawks. Entrusting their depth was a key during this series for Portland, embodying the mindset in Game 4. Four players had two points in the game, including James Stefan, who had the opening and game-winning goal.
Portland controlled the shot battle in the series, eclipsing 40 in all four games. They outscored the Silvertips at almost a 4:1 rate.
Jan Spunar collected his second career playoff shutout Friday, stopping all 27 Silvertips shots. He finished the series with a remarkable 0.954 save percentage in the four games he started.
What went wrong for the Silvertips…
Injuries decimated the Silvertips big time during these playoffs. Already down Teague Patton heading into Round 1, they would wind up losing another bunch of players to season-ending injuries. Austin Roest, Jesse Heslop, and Tarin Smith all suffered injuries over the Silvertips’ last five playoff games.
The absence of Roest, however, was the real kicker during this series. He led the team in scoring after Round 1 with four goals and three assists. Roest was confirmed to have suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s previous series against the Vancouver Giants, which caused him to miss the entirety of the series against the Winterhawks.
Whether it be at the front of the net or grinding away in the corners, Roest was a large play generator that would make plays happen. He was a player the Silvertips depended on to do anything and everything. Having a consummate leader back in the Everett lineup could have made a world of a difference in making this more of a competitive series. Without him, the Silvertips simply looked lost.
Roest took some time to himself on the bench after the game, potentially signifying his time in Everett being through.
Roest is eligible to return to the WHL for one more season, but since he signed an entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators in early March, they might have other plans for him, including starting next season in the AHL.
Everett plugged Beau Courtney into Roest’s position as a stopgap, and it worked to some degree with him tallying two out of the six goals scored in the series, but there wasn’t a lot of momentum gained from it.
Silvertips bidding their farewells…
Long-time general manager and head coach Dennis Williams oversaw his final game behind the Silvertips bench Friday night and will now move back to his alma mater at Bowling Green State University to become the head coach there.
He was fighting through his emotions post game while reflecting on his tenure in Everett.
“It’s been an unbelievable seven years,” Williams said. “I’ve gotten to coach so many great young men, I got to coach alongside unbelievable coaches, and I couldn’t be more thankful for our opportunity.”
Williams guided the Silvertips to the playoffs in each of his seasons behind the bench, winning three U.S. Division titles and making it as far as the WHL Finals in 2017-18.
“I know that moving forward they’re in a good spot, and they’re going to do everything to put the right pieces in place and continue to keep Everett at the top of the league.”
The Silvertips also had a few more players say their goodbyes to the WHL, as over-agers Parker Berge and the aforementioned Tyler Palmer and Teague Patton finished their tenures in Everett. All three were acquired by Everett via trade during their careers.
“When players come in and when they leave [the WHL], there’s how much they grow on and off the ice,” Williams said. “All three of them had such positive impacts, not only to our group but to every individual in the locker room. They’re the leaders that we rely on.”
As for the Winterhawks…
They are a wagon. With their eighth straight victory, they remain the only unbeaten team left in the WHL playoffs. They outscored the Silvertips 23-6 across the four games while racking up huge shot volumes against Palmer.
Head coach Mike Johnston knows how difficult of a feat winning eight in a row in the playoffs is to achieve.“It’s so hard to sweep a team. It really is, and to do it [in back-to-back series], I give them a lot of credit.”
Johnston said the win on Monday was the jolt Portland needed to close the series out on Friday, saying “those moments in a playoff series are really, really key.”
The Winterhawks were also quite sound defensively, as they hounded the Silvertips into taking low-percentage shots all throughout the series, making it easy on Spunar to swallow up pucks.
Johnston has felt that Spunar has gotten increasingly better and consistent as the playoffs have gone along. He leads the WHL playoffs in wins with eight, top-five in both save percentage and goals-against average, while only allowing six goals during the series.
Seattle Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth had an impressive series as well. He was smart with the puck on his stick, taking valuable offensive initiative, and the results came with him tallying four goals and four assists. His four goals has him tied as the leader for goals by a defenseman in the WHL playoffs.
Portland has proven why they’re one of the premier teams in the WHL time and again this season, and they will be a tough task for Prince George to handle in the Western Conference Finals.
Header photo by Brian Liesse, courtesy Seattle Thunderbirds.