Rylan Gould scored the overtime winner as the Everett Silvertips defeated the Penticton Vees 5-4 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. Everett leads best of seven series 2-0, heading to Game 3 in Penticton, Monday night.
Everett’s goals came from Carter Bear, Matias Vanhanen, Shea Busch, along with a pair from Gould. Anders Miller stopped 29 of 33 shots in the win. Penticton’s came twice from Brady Birnie, Diego Johnson, and Ethan Weber. Vees netminder AJ Reyelts made 48 saves on 53 Everett shots in the loss.
Penticton struck first when Brady Birnie tucked a shot by Everett goaltender Anders Miller at 2:20 of the opening period. Birnie’s shot glanced off Miller and broke the plane of the goal line to put Penticton up 1-0. It did not take long for Everett to counter. Carter Bear was the recipient of a Julius Miettinen pass to the right post of Reyelts. Bear tapped in the tying tally at 3:11 of the first, 51 seconds after Birnie had given the Vees the lead.
At 6:42, Bear leveled Vees’ defenseman Nolan Stevenson behind the Penticton goal line. The response led Callum Stone to take a minor penalty for roughing. Everett recorded one shot on the power play, but could not solve Reyelts.
Jaxon Pisani took a roughing minor at 15:09, to put Penticton on the power play for the first time. Penticton generated three shots on the power play, including a strong look for Brittain Alstead near the tail end of the man advantage that was stopped by Anders Miller.
Everett countered when Matias Vanhanen sneaked a shot by Reyelts to give Everett a late lead at 18:35. Penticton outshot Everett 11-7 in the opening period, but the goals from Bear and Vanhanen gave the Tips a 2-1 edge after 20 minutes.
Penticton outshot Everett 4-1 in the first seven minutes of the second period. Diego Johnson scored his second goal of the postseason going glove side on Miller to tie the game at 7:17 of the second period.
At the 12:00 mark, Landon DuPont had Everett’s best chance of the period with a wrap-around attempt that went along the goal line behind Reyelts. Penticton’s Noah Milford committed a tripping penalty at 14:20. On the power play, DuPont’s shot from the left point found the tip of Rylan Gould’s blade for another go-ahead goal for Everett at 15:51 of the period. The Silvertips went to the dressing room outshooting the Vees 11-9, and leading on the scoreboard 3-2.
Brady Birnie, as he did in the first period, opened the scoring in the third after the Tips’ Pisani slipped, allowing Birnie to have a direct path to the net. His shot went glove side past Miller to tie the game at 2:32. In the same way Penticton scored first each period, Everett countered. Shea Busch’s snap shot from the right faceoff circle sneaked past Reyelts to give the Tips the lead at 11:43 of the third.
In the closing minutes, Penticton pulled Reyelts for the extra attacker. The Vees carried relentless pressure with hopes of equalizing the contest. They were rewarded when Ethan Weber buried a loose puck amidst a net mouth scramble to tie the game with 56 seconds left.
The first overtime period began with the Silvertips controlling the pace of play. Shea Busch, seven minutes into overtime, stood inches away from the game winner, but AJ Reyelts extended his right pad to save the game for Penticton. Later in the period, the Tips’ Jaxin Vaughan rang another attempt off the post. Jacob Kvasnicka for Penticton had his chance to end the game, but could not finish the wrap around. Everett outshot Penticton 17-5 in the first overtime, with neither team having a hero.
In double overtime, Everett went to the power play due to a delay of game penalty from Diego Johnson at 5:41. On the ensuing man advantage, Matias Vanhanen fed a pass from behind the net into the crease. Rylan Gould was at the other end to poke in the overtime winner. The goal at 6:41 capped off an overtime that saw Everett outshoot Penticton 24-5.
When asked about the celebration Gould remarked, “I just blacked out. I’ll probably never do that again, and I don’t even know where I thought that. So, yeah it’s done, definitely not doing that again”.
Silvertips Head Coach Steve Hamilton said, “we were all hands on deck, and when we are at our best, everyone contributes…I think our guys have always handled that right there.”
The series shifts to Penticton for Game 3 on Monday night. Everett aims to head to the WHL Final for the first time since 2018.
Northwest Sports Desk 