“Not again.”
That was the feeling among practically all Everett Silvertips fans when their second-round opponent, the Kelowna Rockets, tied Game 5 late in regulation on Friday.
It was only two nights prior in Game 4 when the Rockets came back from a 3-0 deficit, tying it with seven seconds left and eventually winning in overtime to stave off elimination.
The Silvertips have had their fair share of blunders in the playoffs in recent memory, but this would have easily taken the cake.
There was plenty of reason to worry among Everett faithful as overtime began, but it didn’t take long into the extra frame for those in attendance to remember, these are not the same Silvertips as seasons past.
Everett bested Kelowna in the series 4 games to 1, advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2017-18.
So, how did it happen?
Recapping Round 2
Everett was rolling through the first seven and a half games of these playoffs without much adversity, outscoring opponents 40-9 up to that point. Sure, there were little moments of momentum swings, but nothing that looked derailing.
But Game 4 happened, then for the first 60 minutes of Game 5 where Rockets goaltender Josh Banini only allowed one out of 53 shots to pass him. There were certainly times where things could have snowballed out of control, but to this Silvertips team, adversity is often turned into fuel.
“I said to them after Game 4… adversity’s not a bad thing,” head coach Steve Hamilton said. “We’ve been rolling pretty well for a long time, and to have a game where the outcome is undecided and there’s a heartbreaking loss, there’s a lesson in that.”
Landon DuPont, the overtime hero and leader among all WHL defensemen with 13 points this playoffs, echoed that sentiment.
“It’s just versatility and finding different ways to win,” DuPont said. “Not every game we’re going to get five or six goals, sometimes it’s going to be a 1-1 game going into overtime.”
Plenty more to like from Round 2
The Everett Silvertips franchise has a long lineage of great goaltending, and Anders Miller is making his mark as another player in a storied group.
According to QuantHockey, of goalies who have played in nine games or more in a single playoffs in WHL history, no one has ever recorded a higher save percentage than Miller, who sits at a .948 through two rounds of the playoffs. That’s not bad for a simple mid-season acquisition.
“I just really like his demeanor,” Hamilton said. “The guys trust him and count on him, and he’s lived up to it.”
And limiting that Tij Iginla guy was a big thing, too. One of the top point-getters in the WHL, Iginla was held off the scoresheet just six times during the regular season, yet the Silvertips held him scoreless in four out of five games during this series.
Everett is hoping it will get the chance to face Iginla and the Rockets again when Kelowna hosts the Memorial Cup in late May.
“We don’t want to give up time and space to anybody,” Hamilton said. “And when you get a player of that caliber—he’s crafty, he’s going to make things happen—you’ve got to limit his looks and take away as much time and space as you can.”
Previewing the Conference Finals
Who could have guessed the Penticton Vees, the newest expansion WHL team, would be the last ones standing from a talented B.C. Division?
A story that likens itself to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Vees are now four wins away from the franchise’s first finals appearance. The Vees are led on the top line by Seattle Kraken prospect Ryden Evers, Jacob Kvasnicka, and Tristan Peterson.
But in order to get to the Finals, they’ll have to go through the buzz saw Silvertips. Everett took the season series three games to one, though the games were competitive.
Everett captain Tarin Smith missed the entire second round for the Silvertips. Hamilton said its a similar timeline for Smith to Brek Liske’s injury from earlier this season, an injury that sidelined Liske for over a month.
The first two games of this series will be at Angel of the Winds Arena on Thursday, April 23, and Saturday, April 25.
Matchup to watch
Julius Miettinen and Ryden Evers might be teammates one day in the Kraken organization, but for now, the towering forwards will duke it out to see who will be the representative for the Kraken organization in the WHL Finals. This will be the third consecutive season that the Kraken prospect pool is represented in the Finals (Jagger Firkus in 2024, Berkly Catton in 2025).
Miettinen (6-foot-3) is second in the playoffs for goals scored with eight thus far for the Silvertips, while Evers (also 6-foot-3) is 10th with six for the Vees.
Header Courtesy of Evan Morud and the Everett Silvertips
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