Friday night in the WHL saw the top two teams in the Western Conference meet for the third time this year. The Everett Silvertips (21-6-2-0) traveled south on I-5 to face the Portland Winterhawks (21-6-1-2).
Goals by Everett’s Justyn Gurney and Bryce Kindopp put the Silvertips out front, but Portland scored the next three to win 3-2 in overtime.
Both teams were playing without several key members of their team. The visitors were without Martin Fasko-Rudas (World Juniors), Michal Gut (injured), and Tyson Phare (injured). Meanwhile, Portland had three players out of their lineup as they are representing their countries at the World Juniors – Joel Hofer, Simon Knak, and Jonas Brøndberg. Due to USA Hockey’s Selection Camp not starting until next week, Dustin Wolf was able to start for Everett.
A turnover in the Portland zone led to the game’s first goal. Cole Fonstad retrieved the puck and found Gurney for his third goal of the season. The assist for Fonstad was the 28th of the year for the Montreal Canadians prospect.
Shortly after killing a penalty in the second period, Everett captain Bryce Kindopp wired a wrist shot back across the grain pushing the Silvertips lead to 2-0.
After the 3:15 mark of the second period, Winterhawks goalie Isaiah DiLaura shut the door. The St.Paul, Minnesota native made his first appearance since November 16 against Seattle.
“It has been about a month since I played,” DiLaura said. “I definitely had the jitters, but after I made the first couple of saves, then I was like, ‘Okay. I’m finding my groove here.’ After that, I was ready and dialed in, just a whole bunch of energy took over. Goalies always want a shutout, you always want some back, but for the most part, I was dialed in. I really just wanted to get the win for the guys.”
17-year-old Robbie Fromm-Delorme continued his strong play over the last four games. The winger picked the puck up in the neutral zone and fed Reece Newkirk on a rush towards Wolf’s net. Instead of shooting, the New York Islanders draft pick dropped the puck back to Fromm-Delorme. A backhanded shot beat Wolf for Fromm-Delorme’s seventh point in the last four games.
Portland continued to pressure throughout the second period, but Wolf kept the Silvertips in the lead heading into the third period.
DiLaura mentioned, “After the second (period) when we were getting our momentum, that is when we knew that the game was ours and we were going to push and win the game.”
Despite the time of possession being heavily controlled by the Winterhawks, the Silvertips were able to keep Portland to the outside and limit the quality looks on Wolf.
Mike Johnston pulled DiLaura for an extra attacker with just over two minutes left in regulation. With 56 seconds left, Jaydon Dureau scored his fourth of the season to bring the 6,105 fans in attendance to their feet. His goal tied the game at two and sent the game into overtime.
“It was a huge play by Ludvig,” Dureau described. “He got on his knees to do everything he could to keep the puck alive inside the zone. The puck was bobbling with the rough ice, and it got to (Tyson) Kozak. He found me on the backside which was awesome. It was a great pass by him.”
Reece Newkirk, who got the puck to Kozak first, said, “Kozak made a great pass to Dureau, and it was a pretty good angle to shoot that, and Dureau made a great shot. Obviously we knew he was going to score that.”
Overtime was full of momentum swings. Kindopp had a chance to win the game only eight seconds in, but DiLaura was equal to the task.
Dureau was called for slashing when he knocked an Everett stick out of their hands. The Silvertips had multiple quality looks on their man advantage, but again, DiLaura kept the puck out. Also, captain Johnny Ludvig made a couple of shot blocks preventing the puck from getting to the Winterhawks 19-year-old netminder.
Newkirk said after the game, “Johnny eats every puck that comes his way, that is why he is a top pick. He is elite, he blocks every shot, which is credit to him.”
During the stretch on the penalty kill, the task for Portland was even harder as Matthew Quigley’s stick was accidentally knocked out of his hands. A heads up play by Jake Gricius to give his stick to Quigley so after Ludvig’s second shot block of the sequence, Quigley could get the clear the Winterhawks needed.
Then, with 52.2 seconds left in the extra session, Seth Jarvis used his speed to draw holding penalty on Everett. Mike Johnston called his timeout so his power play could discuss how they wanted to attack the Silvertips.
Gricius won the faceoff and the Winterhawks held possession of the puck looking for the shot they drew up during the timeout.
Newkirk took a pass from Jarvis before circling back to the top of the circles. Gricius was positioned in front of Wolf giving the 18-year-old forward an opportunity to shoot far side. Newkirk’s wrist shot beat a screened Wolf giving the Winterhawks the come-from-behind victory and temporarily first place in the U.S. Division.
Dureau said, “Reece has a lot of poise with the puck, so when he gets it he is going to make something good happen. You could see it there, he walks up the wall and took the shot, nothing but net.”
Newkirk described the goal from his perspective, “It was something (Kyle) Gustafson drew up. We knew what we had to do out there, and we capitalized. That goal doesn’t happen without Jake’s screen in front.”
After the winning goal, the team came flying off the bench and met Newkirk who made his way to DiLaura. Newkirk’s winner gave DiLaura his first win with Portland after being acquired from Prince George before the season.
“He put it all on the line tonight and was great,” Newkirk said of his netminder. “We wanted to get him his first win with Portland. He has got some time to step up right now with Joel (Hofer) gone, and he is doing a great job so far.”
Dureau agreed, “You have Isaiah filling in, and he is doing a really good job of that so far. It starts in practice, and as you can see in the game, he stood on his head and had a really good game.”
“All the guys in the locker room were just happy for me,” DiLaura commented. “They know I battle hard every day in practice. They were just happy they could get the first one for me. It is a whole team game. I have to thank the guys for the win. I can’t blame it all on me. All the guys were really wanting this one.”
The win pushed the Winterhawks to a one-point lead over the Silvertips in the standings.
“We talked to our guys before the game, it was going to be a first-place game at this time of the year,” Johnston said. “It is an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves. I thought we responded. Early in the game, I thought we were just okay. As the game went along, I thought we really took over the game and put them under some pressure. They are obviously a very good team, but to outshoot them, and carry the play, I thought it was a real positive.”
Newkirk said, “Before the game, we knew it was going to be a playoff mentality out there. We prepared like a playoff game, these guys are contenders. They are always good, and we are probably going to see them in the playoffs this year hopefully. I think everyone bought in tonight from Isaiah out to the defense to the forwards, everyone bought in and it was a good game.”
Both teams have two more games this weekend. Everett returns home for two games at the Angel of the Winds Arena. First, the Silvertips host the Vancouver Giants in their Teddy Bear Toss game. Spokane then arrives on Sunday to close out the weekend for Everett.
Portland travels east to Tri-City to face the Americans for the first time since the season opener back on September 21. Portland is playing in their third straight Saturday Teddy Bear Toss game. Two weeks ago they were in Kamloops for the Blazers’ Teddy Bear Toss before last Saturday’s home game against Prince George. After the game against Tri-City, Portland returns home for a battle with Seattle, the last contest before the holiday break.
Newkirk wants his team to stay focused. “I think these last three games, we need to stay checked in before Christmas. These are big points and can come back at the end of the year to make or break it. We just need to keep winning this weekend.”
“(Friday) was a huge game for us, we knew that. It was one of those rivalry games and we pride ourselves on beating our rivals,” Dureau said.
With the attention now towards Tri-City, Jaydon talked about the importance of Saturday’s game, “We know it is a big game against them, and they have Teddy Bear Toss. We have been speaking and our key is to shut them out. We didn’t do too well against them last year, so it is a really big game against these guys.”
Johnston is looking forward to the challenge the next two games presents his team. “We haven’t seen (Tri-City) for a long, long time, so it is a chance to play against divisional opponents in Tri-City and Seattle. We will get to see them before the break and get a feel again. Every chance we play, especially now with the young guys getting minutes and opportunities, it is going to make us better as a team. I liked the way we hung in there tonight, that is what you need to do if you are going to be a good team. You have to be able to hang in those games when you are down by one, don’t give up that extra goal, and get it back if you can.”
Notes:
– Reece Newkirk factored into all three of Portland’s goals (1 goal, 2 assists). His 35 points leads the team.
– Portland was 1-for-4 on their power play while Everett was 0-for-3.
– Everett is 11-2-1-0 on the road this season, and two of their three losses have come while in Portland.
– Bryce Kindopp’s goal extended his points streak to four games. During the four games, he has six goals and four assists.
– Cole Fonstad also pushed his points streak to four games. Known more as a distributor of the puck, he has two goals and six assists during his streak.
