WHL Everett Silvertips

Scoreless Deadlock Ends in Shootout Loss

Published on January 1, 2014 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Everett Silvertips News Release


VICTORIA, BC - Austin Lotz made 29 saves through regulation and overtime to earn his league-leading fifth shutout of the season, but the Everett Silvertips couldn't find the back of the net themselves in a 1-0 shootout loss to the Victoria Royals on New Year's Day at the Save-On-Foods-Memorial Centre. The 'Tips did earn one point despite falling short in extra time, improving their season mark to 23-1-4-1 for 51 points.

The Silvertips held a 16-9 shot edge through two periods, but had only one disallowed goal to show as the game remained 0-0. Lotz (16-10-1-1) then stopped all 17 shots he faced in the third period and Everett killed off a total of five Victoria powerplays before a single shootout goal gave the Royals the extra point. Patrik Polivka (18-9-0-1) stopped 24 shots through regulation and overtime and all three Everett shooters in the shootout, staying even with Lotz with his fifth shutout of the year as well.

The first period moved along quickly as neither team lit the lamp and no penalties were called. The Silvertips finished with a 9-6 shot advantage in the period, which featured long stretches of continuous play. The trend continued into the second frame, where Everett outshot Victoria 7-3. Tyler Sandhu appeared to open the scoring early in the middle period, but a video review disallowed the goal as his stick was ruled to be above the crossbar when he deflected a Matt Pufahl point shot into the bottom portion of the net past Polivka.

The Royals held the upper hand in the third period and outshot Everett 17-7 thanks in part to two powerplay chances, but Lotz made all the saves as the stalemate continued throughout the third and the overtime session. In the second round of the shootout, Jack Walker placed a backhand shot just inside the left post to provide the only scoring. Polivka stopped Ivan Nikolishin, Jujhar Khaira and Carson Stadnyk in the skills competition to complete Victoria's 1-0 victory.

Final shots were 30-24 in favor of the Royals. The Silvertips were scoreless on two abbreviated powerplay chances, but killed off five shorthanded situations in the contest.

The Silvertips return to U.S. Division action with a trip to Spokane to face the Chiefs Saturday night at 7:05 pm, with pregame broadcast coverage starting at 6:30 on Fox Sports 1380 AM. The 'Tips are then back on home ice Wednesday night for a 7:05 pm meeting with the Portland Winterhawks at Comcast Arena.

Silvertips holiday packs, mini-game plans and six-game packs for the 2013-14 WHL season are available now at the team office. Visit www.EverettSilvertips.com or call 425-252-5100 for more information. To keep up with all the latest team news, "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Check out the Everett Silvertips Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from January 1, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central