Silvertips Redeem Weekend With Solid Victory Over Giants
A SCORING ONSLAUGHT IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES SET THE COURSE OF THE GAME EARLY AND THEY WOULD HOLD THE LEAD TO FINISH 4-1
Friday night was an ugly performance for Silvertips players, and they were eager for a chance to get back at it and play quality hockey. Despite a concurrent Seahawk game, the Silvertips had a solid crowd in town for a game against Vancouver who, despite being very injured, have played Everett well and are one of five teams to have beaten the Tips so far this season (Penticton, Portland, Prince Albert, and Spokane on Friday).
On the pre-game show from Sportsnet 650, Eddie Gregory talked about how difficult it is to win in Angel of the Winds Arena with how quick Everett comes out and alluding to the fact that Vancouver would need to survive an initial onslaught in order to win. Good analysis and insight into the reputation of AOTW - but unfortunately for Vancouver - the team would not survive that first wave of energy and scoring.
The Tips scoring got started early when Nolan Chaskto hit an offensive zone face off into the sideboards, and then collected it and rocketed it on net using the referee as a screen, with the shot going above the shoulder of the Pyne. An unassisted goal, Chastko has been REALLY solid since re-joining this Silvertips forward group and has been getting a lot of playing time with Miettinen out due to an injury.
Shortly after the goal, newcomer and towering defenseman, Luke Vlooswyk had a powerful (but clean) hit right near the bench, which started a scrum which Everett came out of on the power-play. Then on the power-play Zach Shantz netted his 18th goal of the season on a snap shot with beautiful screen from Vaughan.
Then to cap off an explosion of offense, fourth liner Lukas Kaplan scored to send Kelton Pyne off to an early shower. He capitalized with a rebound goal, utilizing proper positioning and a juicy rebound that bounced off of Chastko and then burying it in the back of the net with a high swinging slapper.
The Giants would call a timeout and replace their goalie in hopes to spark something out of their players who had played undisciplined and not closed out gaps at all in the first five minutes. Burke Hood went in and immediately made two amazing saves that only an athletic 6’5” goalie like himself could make - again making it an interesting decision to not start him in the first place. The Giants added one late in the period with an amazing lift of a bouncing puck into the cross bar and down to get past Miller.
The beleaguered Giants team really pushed Everett in the second period, nearly outshooting them and having way more quality chances. They probably deserved to score and looked really good - but Anders Miller had other ideas. He stopped all 13 Giants shots and bailed the Tips out of some pretty bad defensive sequences. Vancouver’s best chance of the period came on a 5-on-3 with Gould and Smith in the box but they just couldn’t convert (their 5-on-3 powerplay was actually really disjointed and they could not get close like two man advantages are supposed to).
Coming into the third period, it felt like Vancouver might actually have a chance. They really owned the second period and felt right on the cusp. However Everett would dominated possession in the third period, albeit in a sloppy period of hockey. Neither team had many shots, but Everett again had the advantage in that department. Vancouver didn’t push the puck forward as hard and any chance of a comeback was dashed when Carter Bear iced the game with around five minutes left. The Detroit Red Wings first round pick had a mini give-and-go with Vanhanen before a one-timer beat New York Islanders prospect Burke Hood to give Everett a 4-1 lead. Vancouver had a chance with a 6-on-4 powerplay late in the game to try and make things interesting but Anders Miller again DENIED them.
@TheTipsJar on Twitter Observations:
Kayd Ruedig continues to bring physicality to go along side fluid skating and offensive prowess
Luke Vlooswyk has a couple huge hits the last two nights
The Giants went in starting their backup goalie Kelton Pyne despite Burke Hood single handidly carrying Vancouver to a win in an earlier matchup and having played both games of a back-to-back multiple times
Kelton Pyne being rostered as a 20-year old backup goalie says a lot about the loss of depth in 20 year olds with the NCAA decision. Pre CHL→ NCAA rule change overage starting goalies were rare and a backup would be unthinkable
Jaxsin Vaughan has really come into his own as a power forward the last two weeks after a rough spell around the holidays. He has two goals, countless goalie screens that helped score, and is getting more consistent with his hits. He’s blossoming into more of a second line player which really helps lengthen the lineup.
In talking about how difficult it is to win in this building, the Vancouver Giants Color Guy commented that at opening puck drop it’s essentially 2-0 already.
The Tips next host the Memorial Cup hosts on Wednesday when the Kelowna Rockets come to town, and then play Brandon and Seattle on the weekend.