The Everett Silvertips are leaving Prince George with three out of possible four points, after their 4-0 shutout win over the Cougars at the CN Centre Saturday night.
Silvertips goaltender Carter Hart, making his fourth straight start since returning from a bout with mono, stopped 28 shots for his first shutout of the season. Hart is one shutout away from tying the Silvertips’ franchise record (21).
Tavin Grant was tagged with the loss, stopping 27 of 31 shots through 40-minutes before Isaiah DiLaura came in for the third period.
Matt Fonteyne scored the only goal in the first period for Everett, before they exploded for three in the middle frame to pull away. Kevin Davis (power-play), Riley Sutter and Sean Richards all found the back of the net in the middle frame.
Fonteyne opened the scoring late in the first and on a nice individual effort down the left-wing. The speedy winger cut to the inside avoiding one defenceman, before quickly dragging the puck to his backhand and sliding it around Grant at 15:44.
Prince George had a few good opportunities to open the scoring before that Everett goal. Jared Bethune just missed the net on a backdoor pass from Jackson Leppard, and Max Kryski had his backhand attempt out front picked out of the air by Hart’s glove.
Leppard knocked the puck down at the Everett blue-line and came down the left side before firing the puck across to Bethune, but his stick was tied up at the last second Gianni Fairbrother, directing the shot just past the post.
Kryski almost scored his first WHL goal after Pavel Azhgirei stole the puck on the boards and fed him in the middle. The rookie forward found himself wide open in front and he went to his backhand but a lunging Hart got it with his glove, as he was falling forward.
Everett, added to their lead early in the second on a power-play that carried over from the first period. Just 22-seconds into the middle stanza, Kevin Davis cranked a shot from the point that caught the post and beat Grant on the glove-side. That power-play goal by Everett, was the first given up by the Cougars since October 13th, snapping a run of 39-straight kills.
Riley Sutter padded the Silvertips lead midway through the frame on a great pass by Brandon Hein. Hein cut to the left-wing and from the bottom of the circle threw the puck back to the middle, where Sutter tipped it into an open net from inside the crease at 9:11.
Sean Richards made it 4-0, when he stepped out of the penalty-box and was hit with a breakaway pass at the Cougars blue-line. Richards broke in all alone and went to his backhand, roofing the puck over Grant’s glove with two-minutes left in the second period. Richards scored twice in the Silvertips 4-3 shootout loss Friday.
Isaiah DiLaura came into the game at the start of the third period, making his first appearance at home and he looked sharp, despite a light workload. His highlight of the third was stopping Connor Dewar on a breakaway, as he slid across to his right to get his pad on the puck at the post.
FINAL: 4-0 Everett
Shots: 36-28 Everett
Power-Plays: Cougars 0-2 Everett 1-2
Three Stars: 1) Matt Fonteyne 2) Kevin Davis 3) Carter Hart
Prince George records slips to 6-9-2-2 on the season and they are now 2-5-2-0 at the CN Centre through nine games. Everett improved their record to 8-10-1-1 and are now 6-6-0-1 on the road. The Cougars now sit fourth in the BC Division, two points behind the Vancouver Giants, after they beat the Victoria Royals Saturday night.
The Cougars go back on the road, albeit for one game, Wednesday November 15th, when they visit the Kamloops Blazers (7-12-0-0) at the Sandman Centre; puck drop is 7 p.m.
-Prince George Cougars