The Everett Silvertips ended their latest week with a victory in Manitoba, but the team continues to struggle for results during a month-long road trip through eastern Washington and central Canada.
Everett (4-6-1-2, 11 points) is ninth in the WHL Western Conference as of Monday and shares the fifth-worst points percentage in the league at .423. The Silvertips have three more games in Canada this week before they return to Angel of the Winds Arena on Nov. 6.
On Wednesday, Saskatoon edged Everett 3-2 in a shootout. The first period was scoreless, then Henry Meier slipped the puck through defenseman Isaac Poll's legs and created room for a shot from the right circle, giving Everett a 1-0 lead at 3:14 of the second. Hayden Harsanyi tied it for the Blades at 16:50, and Rhys Jamieson put Everett back in front before tapping in a rebound at 8:50 of the third. Cooper Williams tied it 2-2 at 10:29, and neither side scored in overtime, even though the Silvertips held a 6-3 shots edge. In the shootout, Harsanyi scored for Saskatoon, and captain Jaxsin Vaughan lost control of the puck on the deciding attempt. Goalie Bennett Byers made 33 saves.
On Friday, Everett returned to the building where it won its first WHL Championship, but Prince Albert prevailed 3-2. The Raiders scored twice within 15 seconds in the first period, through Kyle Obobaifo's first career WHL goal at 7:04 and Brandon Gorzynski's fourth of the season at 7:19. Jonah Siverton made it 3-0 at 13:43, which proved to be the game-winner. Reid Nicol scored his first WHL goal at 17:03, and Vaughan cut the deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal in the second period, but Everett could not find the equalizer. Byers stopped 24 of 27 shots.
Sunday's game against Brandon began in similar fashion, with the Wheat Kings leading 2-0 on goals from Aiden Foster and Levi Ellingsen. The Silvertips answered with four straight goals, three of them in the latter half of the second period. Vaughan scored on the power play at 11:25, Jamieson tied it 20 seconds later, and Lukas Kaplan put Everett ahead 3-2 at 18:27 with a one-timer from the slot.
Jamieson added a power-play goal at 9:57 of the third period, finishing a cross-ice pass from Dario Blengino. Cameron Allard pulled Brandon within one, but Hunter Rudolph tapped in Kaplan's shot off the crossbar at 14:26 to seal the 5-3 final. The win ended a three-game losing streak, and Byers made 26 saves.
Jamieson was named the first star of the week after scoring three goals in three games. The 18-year-old played a fourth-line role on last year's championship team and is growing into a larger scoring role this season. Byers, a 17-year-old rookie, was the second star. With Jayden Kraus out with a lower-body injury, he is carrying a heavy workload and made 83 saves on 91 shots this week, a .912 save percentage and 2.62 goals-against average. Defenseman Brek Liske, 18, was the third star after recording an assist in each game. His seven points (two goals, five assists) in 12 games lead the team.
The road trip concludes with three games this week. Everett plays Regina (6-4-0-1, 13 points) on Tuesday night, Swift Current (9-5-0-0, 18 points) on Friday and Moose Jaw (4-7-0-0, 8 points) on Saturday afternoon. The team then gets nearly a week off before its Nov. 6 home game.
