Franchise playoff history:
-2015: Everett won 4-2 in the first round.
-2008: Spokane won 4-0 in the first round.
-2007: Everett won 4-2 in the first round.
-2004: Everett won 4-0 in the first round.
2018-19 head-to-head:
-Everett went 6-0-1-1 and Spokane was 2-5-1-0.
Connor Dewar and Bryce Kindopp each led the season series with 10 points in the eight games, while Riley Sutter chipped eight in seven games. For the Chiefs, Riley Woods had four goals and an assist and Ty Smith had five assists.
In net, Dustin Wolf started all eight games for the Silvertips, turning away 185-of-199 Spokane shots for a 0.930 save percentage and a 1.75 GAA.
Bailey Brkin was pulled just 16 minutes his first game against Everett, but did much better after, stopping a total of 208-of-225 shots in seven games (counting the game he was pulled from). That is a 0.924 save percentage.
Wolf never faced more than 27 shots and had a shutout. The fewest shots Brkin saw in a game was also 27 with there being three games where he faced 42 or more.
2018-19 season:
-Everett – The Silvertips captured another U.S. Division title, pulling away thanks to a stellar defense, Wolf and offense from the likes of Dewar and Kindopp, among others. Kindopp had nine points in their five-game ousting of Tri-City in the first round and Martin Fasko-Rudas chipped in eight. Wolf posted a 1.60 GAA and looked beyond his 17 years of age.
-Spokane – They were expected to contend for the U.S. Division title, but without the services of Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Ty Smith for stretches made the Chiefs vulnerable. They are playing their best team hockey under head coach Dan Lambert at the right time though and were able to pull out home-ice advantage in the last weekend of the regular season. They stole two overtime wins in Portland in games three and four and then then put them away in Game 5 back in Spokane. Not going the distance against the Winterhawks could prove to be key. Woods had eight points in five games to lead the way.
Storylines to watch:
-Smith was effective in shutting down Portland’s top line in the first round. How much can he do the same to Dewar, Kindopp and Zack Andrusiak? Will Everett head coach split up his most proven performers to get some of them away from the best defenseman in the league?
-Brkin was good at times in the first round vs Portland. Can he steal a game or more against the division champs? If Spokane pulls this out, they will need him to do this.
-How much impact will veteran and big framed defensemen Sahvan Khaira, Artyom Minulin and the smaller but physical Gianni Fairbrother have on Spokane’s play makers? The Chiefs will not find possession as easy to maintain against them and if they try this game, they will be taking lots of hits.
How they match up:
-It looks like Sutter is still going to be out for the Silvertips, which makes this a more challenging series for them to be sure. A reason for that is Sutter is one of the best shutdown centers in the league and having him out there against either Anderson-Dolan or Eli Zummack would be extremely useful.
This series breaks down to me as a team in Spokane that can score with anyone and has one of the best puck-moving blue line in the league. They transition the puck from their end to yours in a hurry. They owned the puck in Portland’s end for much of their first round series and wore down the Portland defense.
They will find much tougher sledding in a big and strong defensively Everett team. The Silvertips are a better transitional team than they used to be and there shoudl be large segments of the series where these teams will go end-to-end.
That is where Everett’s advantage in net should come into play. Wolf has always seemed to find a way to make big stops when his team needs them the most and never seems to face a number of shots in-a-row. Brkin was solid in the first round and this season, but also gave up several goals to Portland that he would certainly want back for their lack of quality.
Unlike Everett’s first round opponent, Spokane has the offense to put Everett in a two or three-goal hole early in the game. If they beat Everett, that is how they will do it as especially without Sutter, the Silvertips do not have the ability to consistently come from behind and pull out the win.
This could be the first time these two teams need the full seven games.
DubNetwork prediction:
-Everett Silvertips in seven games.
