U.S. Division

Red, White and Blue Report: Tips hold serve and Glass scores big

Written by DUBNetwork on

The Everett Silvertips passed a couple of big tests this past weekend as they continue to have a hold on the U.S. Division.

It started Friday night when they hosted the Seattle Thunderbirds where goalie Carter Hart stopped  33 shots to lead the Silvertips to a big 1-0 win. Seattle went into the game winners of six straight overall and had beaten Everett three straight times. With the possibility of a playoff match up between the two Puget Sound rivals, stemming the tide was important for the Silvertips.

The next night Everett headed over to Kennewick to take on the red hot Tri City Americans. Tri City had won seven straight and had pulled to within five points of the Silvertips — albeit with several games in hand. Everett gave Hart the night off and Mario Petit did his part to fill in and the Silvertips scored three goals in the third period to earn a 4-2 triumph.

The Silvertips have their hands full again this coming weekend as they will play their second straight three-in-three which includes another match up with Seattle on the road.

Here’s the what else has been happening in the U.S. Division:

Breaking the Glass ceiling

The Portland Winterhawks snapped a three-game losing streak this past Tuesday night when they started fast and held on late to beat the Kamloops Blazers. Portland’s Cody Glass had a monster game, tying a career best with five points. He scored early and then sealed the deal with a late power-play marker in the third period.

Coming into the season Glass was considered a strong prospect but he has taken off and now is showing up in the top end of many 2017 NHL Draft rankings. The Winnipeg native has more than doubled his goals, assists and points totals and has turned himself into one of the elite scorers in the WHL with 64 points overall. Glass will get another chance to improve his sky-rocketing draft status on Monday when he takes part in the Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game in Quebec.

Second place battle this weekend

The Tri City Americans sit in second place and head into the weekend’s action with a five-point lead over Seattle. The two clubs have only played twice but that total will double this weekend. The Thunderbirds have had the better of the head-to-head so far, winning both games by a combined total of 8-2. Seattle will be in Kennewick on Friday night and the two clubs will end the weekend with a Sunday afternoon tilt at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

With five games in hand, this weekend will be a chance for Tri City to build up some more cushion on the Thunderbirds as the season heads down the stretch. There will be an interesting goalie match up here featuring two guys with the same first name. Rylan Toth for Seattle and Rylan Parenteau will most likely get the nods in both games and more than just playoff seeding is on the line. The two netminders both came to their respective clubs via trades from Eastern Conference teams, both are from Saskatoon and the two are good friends. That should amp up the stakes a bit.

U.S. Division Player of the week

Rylan Toth, G, Seattle Thunderbirds – In his last four games, Toth has been pretty spectacular for the Thunderbirds. He’s only allowed five goals and the only blemish on his record was a 1-0 loss to the Everett Silvertips. His biggest moment came Tuesday night in Spokane where he stopped Kailer Yamamoto in overtime during a two-on-none breakaway. Toth aggressively poke-checked the puck away and then watched as his teammates worked it down the other way to score the game-winner.

U.S. represents at Top Prospects

When the top prospects come together Monday to play in the Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game there will be plenty of familiar faces to U.S. Division fans. Playing for Team Cherry that night will be Seattle’s Jarret Tyszka and Portland’s Henri Jokiharu. They will be facing off against Team Orr and Portland’s Cody Glass, Tri City’s Michael Rasmussen and Jusso Valimaki and Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto.

The game takes place Monday, Jan. 30th at 4 P.M Pacific and will be televised in the U.S. on the NHL Network.