Fastest Team Ever to 100 Wins!

[Tipped Off]

Everett Earns 100th Win in Franchise History
Silvertips Down Thunderbirds 4-2
Everett Silvertips Press Release

Shaun Heshka scored his 100th career WHL point (assist) tonight

Everett, WA - After tonight's Valentine's Day match-up the Everett Silvertips came out ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds by a final score of 4-2. This was the seventh meeting between the two top US Division teams and Everett posts a 3-3-0-1 record against Seattle. The Silvertips gain two more points on the second place Thunderbirds and now sit at a 32-20-2-2 and 68 points. Seattle, with 59 points, has an overall history of 27-23-1-4.

Bud Holloway had the lone goal for the first two periods. At 3:19 of the first he stole the puck inside Everett's blue line and made a breakaway towards the net. Seattle stayed on top 1-0 until Ondrej Fiala scored at 45 seconds into the third on a power play. John Lammers sent a pass from the right point down into the crease and Fiala was waiting at the doorstep. Three minutes later the Silvertips took a 2-1 lead with a shot from John Lammers from the top right circle, again on an Everett power play. Then at 10:06 Brady Calla tipped in a puck to earn his seventh on the year and cushioned the Silvertips' lead by two. The Thunderbirds tallied one more at 17:44 with a shot by Aaron Gagnon. Late in the game Peter Mueller earned an insurance goal into an empty net to finalize the scoreboard at 4-2.

Both John Lammers and Shaun Heshka tallied two assists in tonight's game while Peter Mueller earned one. Heshka also earns his 100th career WHL point after tonight's two assists. Leland Irving bumps his record up to 29-18-1-2 after he turned away 26 of 28 shots. With the loss Bryan Bridges drops his goaltending record to 17-8-1-2. He made 29 saves on 31 shots. On the power play Everett scored on two of six chances while Seattle converted on one of seven. The Silvertips out shot the Thunderbirds 32-28.

The Everett Silvertips are back in action against the Spokane Chiefs on Friday, February 17th, at the Everett Events Center. The puck drops at 7:05pm.

Silvertips Box Scores

John Lammers (29) 1 G, 2 A
Peter Mueller (20) 1 G, 1 A
Ondrej Fiala (14) 1 G
Brady Calla (7) 1 G
Shaun Heshka 2 A (Earns 100th WHL career point)
Leland Irving (29-18-1-2): 26/28 saves
Power Play: Everett 2/6, Seattle 1/7
Shots on Goal: Everett 32, Seattle 28
Attendance: 5,589

3 Stars of the Game

1. John Lammers (EVT)
2. Shaun Heshka (EVT)
3. Leland Irving (EVT)

[Tipped Off]

Tips erupt in third to beat Seattle
Everett scores four goals in the final period to win 4-2 and increase its first-place lead to nine points.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


EVERETT - The Everett Silvertips may have come into Tuesday night's game against the Seattle Thunderbirds with the small goal of improving their effort.

However, they left it having made a big statement: "We're still the top dogs in the WHL's U.S. Division."

Everett scored all four of its goals in the third period, and the Silvertips defeated the Thunderbirds 4-2 to put a dent into Seattle's assault upon the division lead.

"It's really good to get one back against them," said Everett defenseman Shaun Heshka, whose two assists gave him 100 career points. "They've really been pressing the last couple weeks and came right up behind us. It's nice for us to get that pressure off our shoulders and get the win."

Ondrej Fiala, John Lammers, Brady Calla and Peter Mueller scored goals during a third period that was just reward for a comprehensive all-around effort, in which the Tips were unfortunate to trail 1-0 after two periods. As a result the Tips (32-20-2-2), who had lost their past three against Seattle, restored their lead over the T-birds (27-23-1-4) to nine points.

"It was a real important game," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "They're the hottest team in the division right now and had beaten us three straight, so the game takes on even a little more importance. It was important for us to play well against them because they really had our number for a while."

Over the past two weeks, Everett had watched Seattle creep closer and closer in the standings. The Tips were lethargic in their past six games, earning just four points. Meanwhile the T-birds were red hot, winning their past four.

Add in the teams' previous meeting six days earlier, when Seattle dominated Everett in the third period of a 2-1 decision, causing Constantine to question the Tips' work ethic, and it seemed the T-birds had an excellent chance to close within five points and turn the division into a horserace.

But Everett displayed the kind of energy that had been missing in recent games, then exploded in the third period. With Lammers leading the way, Everett turned a deficit into a lead in the first four minutes of the third period and led 3-1 after 10. Although Seattle's Aaron Gagnon scored with goaltender Bryan Bridges pulled with 2:16 remaining to make it 3-2, Mueller scored into an empty net in the final minute to seal the victory.

"Our energy is slowly coming back to our team and our health is returning, so I thought we played a pretty energized game, which was good to see," Constantine said. "When you have an important game you at least want to put effort in and I thought we played hard, which is the most-important thing."

Everett tied it a mere 45 seconds into the third period on the power play. In a display of precision passing, Heshka fed a cross-ice pass to Lammers, who immediately sent it back the other way for Fiala to tip past Bridges and make it 1-1.

The Tips then took the lead at 4:01 with another power-play goal. This time Everett won a faceoff and moved the puck to Lammers in the right circle. Lammers blasted a one-timer into far-upper corner, sending the water bottle flying and giving Everett a 2-1 lead.

The Tips added insurance at 10:06, again with Lammers doing the heavy work. His aggressive forechecking resulted in the puck popping out front to Calla, and Calla forced it in at the post, making it 3-1 with his first goal since Nov. 12, a span of 33 games.

Leland Irving had a solid game in goal for Everett, making 26 stops.

Bud Holloway also scored for Seattle and Bridges finished with 28 saves.

Slap shots: Everett's victory was the 100th in franchise history, making the Tips the fastest expansion franchise to 100 wins. ... Everett center Zach Dailey missed his second straight game with what was described as the flu. Left wing Karel Hromas, who also sat out, is considered another week away from returning from his cracked collarbone. ... Seattle defenseman Clayton Barthel missed his fourth straight game because of a lower-back strain. However, the T-birds did welcome back right wing Ryan Gibbons, who sat out the last four with a suspension.

At Everett Events Center

Seattle 1 0 1-2

Everett 0 0 4-4

First Period-1, Seattle, Holloway 14, 3:19 (pp). Penalties-Pess, Seattle (hooking), 1:19; Wheat, Everett (holding), 1:53; Durand, Seattle (slashing), 3:25; Kress, Everett (high sticking), 4:37; Gagnon, Seattle (hooking), 5:37; Fiala, Everett (diving), 5:37; Ellington, Everett (holding), 11:19; Richard, Seattle (holding), 14:44; Fiala, Everett (cross-checking), 19:53.

Second Period-No goals. Penalties-Sonne, Everett (tripping), 6:48; Olson, Seattle (hooking), 12:59; Smyke, Everett (charging), 18:50; Scurko, Seattle (hooking), 19:28.

Third Period-2, Everett, Fiala 14 (Lammers, Heshka), 0:45 (pp). 3, Everett, Lammers 29 (Heshka, Mueller), 4:01. 4, Everett, Calla 7 (Lammers), 10:06. 5, Seattle, Gagnon 18 (Tomanek, Scurko), 17:44. 6, Everett, Mueller 20, 19:16 (en). Penalties-Je. Schappert, Seattle (hooking), 0:27; Stamler, Seattle (delay of game), 3:51; Potuer, Everett (hooking), 6:02.

Shots on goal-Seattle 5-9-14-28. Everett 8-13-11-32. Power-play opportunities-Seattle 1 of 7. Everett 2 of 7.

Goalies-Seattle, Bridges 17-8-1-2 (31 shots, 28 saves). Everett, Irving 29-18-1-2 (28 shots, 26 saves).

[Tipped Off]

Silvertips: Four-goal third powers Everett's win
By Jim Riley

Special to The Seattle Times

EVERETT — Shaun Heshka scored the 100th point of his Western Hockey League career and he picked a good time to do it.

Heshka had two assists in the third period, and the Everett Silvertips exploded for four goals in the final 20 minutes to overtake the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 in front of 5,589 at the Everett Events Center Tuesday night.

The victory helped Everett (32-20-2-2) pad its U.S. Division lead to nine points over Seattle (27-23-1-4).

The T-birds led 1-0 after two periods on a goal by Bud Holloway, but Everett scored two power-play goals and one into an empty net to end Seattle's four-game winning streak.

"Seattle had won three games in a row against us and so it's nice to get one back," Heshka said after helping the Silvertips earn the 100th victory in franchise history. "They're right behind us in the standings so this takes a little pressure off us."

John Lammers had a goal and two assists in the final period for the Silvertips.

Lammers made a perfect pass to a hard-charging Ondrej Fiala to even the score at 1 on a rare 4-on-3 power play only 45 seconds into the third period. Lammers then gave the Silvertips the lead with a perfect one-timer on the power play at 4:01 of the third period.

Brady Calla got the go-ahead goal for the Silvertips, his first goal since Nov. 12, at even strength. Seattle pulled goaltender Bryan Bridges and Aaron Gagnon scored to make it 3-2, but Peter Mueller scored an empty-net goal to put the game away for the Silvertips.

Lammers admitted there may have been a little frustration between the second and third periods as Everett missed several good scoring chances against a red-hot Bridges.

"You could say we were frustrated but you can't let things like that bother you," Lammers said. "In hockey you can't get too high or you can't get too low or your energy will go down. You just have to forget about things and work as hard as you can."




Lammers and the Silvertips did that, out shooting the T-birds 32-28 in the game.

"Any time you lose three straight to any team you want to come out hard and right the wrong," Lammers said. "Every game nowadays is a big game coming down the stretch. We have to up your enthusiasm and fight for every game."

Game Summary

SILVERTIPS 4, THUNDERBIRDS 2

Seattle 1 0 1 — 2
Everett 0 0 4 — 4
First — 1. Seattle Holloway 14 (unassisted) 3:19 (pp). Second — No scoring. Third — 2. Everett Fiala 14 (Lammers, Heshka) :45 (pp). 3. Everett Lammers 29 (Heshka, Mueller) 4:01 (pp). 4. Everett Calla 7 (Lammers) 10:06. 5. Seattle Gagnon 18 (Tomanek, Scurko) 17:44. 6. Everett Mueller 20 (unassisted) 19:17 (en). Shots on goal by: Seattle 5-9-14 — 28. Everett 8-13-11 — 32. Power plays (goals, chances) — Seattle 1-7. Everett 2-7. Goaltenders — Seattle: Bridges (17-8). Everett: Irving (29-18). Referee — Kyle Rehman. A — 5,589.

[ihlemic10]

all I got to say is woot!

[Beaner]

Congrats, nicely done. :thumb:

Should be a record that stands for a very long time.