The floodgates opened in the fifth game of this opening round series, as the Everett Silvertips poured nine goals into the Americans net. The nine goals sealed the series for Everett as they move onto the second round for the fifth season in a row.
The nine goals scored in a playoff game sets the new standard in Silvertips playoff history, they eclipsed the eight goals they scored against Tri-City in the third round last season.
Everett scored three goals in each period as the rout was on early. 10 different Silvertips hit the scoresheet, seven of which had multi-point efforts.
With the shot difference already getting out of hand, Bryce Kindopp scored his third goal of the series. Gage Goncalves hard forecheck in the Americans end gave the Silvertips the puck and it landed on Kindopps’s stick in front of the Americans net. Beck Warm was helpless to stop the puck.
Dom Schmiemann found himself parked in the penalty box for four minutes after he committed a slew-foot. Thankfully Dawson Butt was not injured on the play.
The Silvertips made the Americans pay, just 24 seconds into the double minor penalty. Zack Andrusiak scored his third of the post-season, on a rebound. Warm made the initial save on Wyatte Wylie‘s shot but Andrusiak was able to pick up the juicy rebound and put it home for a two goal lead. The goal was the eventual game winner for the Sivlertips but they were nowhere near done scoring.
With 1:07 to play in the first period, Martin Fasko-Rudas tallied to make it a three goal lead for the Silvertips. A two-on-one into the Americans end saw the puck get passed around by the Silvertips, and following a Kindopp shot that bounced off Warm, the puck went right to Fasko-Rudas who made no mistake in lifting the puck beyond the downed Warm. It was his fourth goal of the series and gave the Silvertips the 3-0 lead heading down the tunnel.
The Silvertips put 22 shots on the Americans net to just six from the Americans.
“The Pitbull” Connor Dewar made no mistake when he walked out from the corner and riffled a shot beyond Warm. His third goal of the series came just 1:27 into the middle frame. The rout was on.
Following the fourth goal there was some push back from the Americans as they realized they needed to attempt to climb out of the hole they put themselves in. Silvertips goaltender Dustin Wolf needed to make a couple of five-alarm stops to maintain his shutout. He was equal to the task through 30 minutes.
Just before the halfway point of the game the Silvertips added to their lead, their fifth goal of the night came off the stick of Goncalves. Andrusiak found Goncalves streaking into the zone on the left wing, he was wide open and the pass hit his stick and then found the inside of the post behind Warm. The goal was Goncalves’ second of the series and his third point of the night.
Less than three minutes later, Kindopp scored his second goal of the night, giving Everett a six goal cushion. The puck made its way to the front of the Americans net and another rebound made its way to the stick of Kindopp. The goal at 11:44 of the second period chased Beck Warm from the net, Talyn Boyko made his WHL playoff debut.
There were far less shots directed at the Americans net in the second period, but Everett still led 12-7.
Rough play began to pick up in the third period. Both teams were getting involved in extracurricular activities and penalties were being dished out frequently.
The hats came out for Kindopp as he scored his third goal of the night 2:07 into the final frame. With the teams playing four-on-four, Kindopp stripped the puck from an Americans defender and surprised Boyko with a shot. It got through him and the lead was up to seven.
The Silvertips were not done there, as Andrusiak added to the goal total for the team with his second of the night. The team broke out of their zone three-on-two. Robbie Holmes dropped a pass to Andrusiak, and he just wristed a shot by Boyko from in the slot area.
At 10:35 of the final frame, the Americans broke the shutout bid for Wolf. On the power play, Kyle Olson scored his first of the playoffs. Nolan Yaremko‘s shot was deflected in front by Olsen and it trickled over Wolf.
Less than a minute later, Dewar left the puck at the blueline for Ronan Seeley and his shot from the blueline beat a screened Boyko. It was his first of the playoffs. That goal was the ninth by the Silvertips, and the final goal of the game.
The final score was Silvertips 9 Americans 1.
Game notes: The Silvertips awarded the three stars to the departing 20-year-olds from the Tri-City Americans, they included Nolan Yaremko, Parker AuCoin and Aaron Hyman. Connor Dewar led all players with nine shots on net, Krystof Hrabik had 5 for the Americans. Everett moves on to host the Spokane Chiefs, who defeated the Portland Winterhawks to move onto the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
