Tri-City and Everett battled in a U.S. Division Friday night showdown that saw the Silvertips absolutely dominate the Tri-City Americans in every fashion of the game with a 7-1 win. Julius Miettinen picked up his first hat-trick of the season for Everett, and Matias Vanhanen had a five-point night as the two led Everett to an easy victory.

1st Period

The game began with fireworks right off the opening faceoff.

Just eight seconds in, Shea Busch and Cash Koch exchanged words before dropping the gloves and wrestling each other to the ice. Koch continued jawing at the Everett bench before eventually being escorted to the penalty box. From that moment on, there was someone in the box for either team until about two minutes remained in the first period.

Everett responded perfectly—scoring just 30 seconds after the altercation—and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.

Julius Miettinen would not be denied. After a shot from Jakub Seidl, Miettinen gathered the rebound in front and fired a shot that was initially stopped. He then pounced on his own rebound and, on his second attempt, snuck the puck past a diving Ryan Grout.

With fans still settling into their seats, Everett made it 2–0 less than a minute later on the power play.

After crisp puck movement during 4-on-3 play, Jesse Heslop found Zackary Shantz unmarked at the back post for a simple tap-in.

By the five-minute mark, the Silvertips already held a commanding 10–3 shot advantage.

Moments later, Grady Martin and Jaxsin Vaughan added to the chaos, dropping the gloves at 5:41 after Vaughan slashed Martin. Both landed blows before Vaughan tackled Martin to the ice.

Tri-City got on the board for the only time tonight just after the first media timeout, capitalizing on a power play following a Clarke Schaefer slashing penalty.

Gavin Garland dropped the puck back to Columbus Blue Jackets Prospect Charlie Elick at the point, who took his time before firing a wrist shot that deflected in the slot and beat Tyler LeGall on the blocker side.

Everett quickly restored its two-goal cushion thanks to a sharp read from Matias Vanhanen.

Elick, deep in his own zone, rimmed the puck around the boards, but Vanhanen was first to it for Everett. Skating down the left wing, Vanhanen slid the puck in front to Miettinen, who buried a one-timer for his second of the game just past the halfway point.

That wrapped up an intense first period, with Everett leading 3–1 and outshooting Tri-City 23–9. Both teams had notched a power play goal, and a whopping 50 penalty minutes had already been assessed between both sides.

2nd Period

Everett continued to press the issue right out of the gate, making it 4–1 just over a minute into the second period.

At center ice, Jakub Seidl threaded a pass to Vanhanen in stride as he entered the American’s zone. Vanhanen carried the puck along the right boards and zipped a cross-ice pass to Busch, who ripped a wrist shot from the left circle past Grout’s glove.

Everett nearly shot itself in the foot after drawing another penalty to give themselves a chance to put the game away, it seemed. Miettinen jumped on early as the extra attacker before LeGall reached the bench, resulting in 4-on-4 play. Fortunately for the Silvertips, nothing came back to bite them as a result.

Cruz Pavao had a few great net-front chances to pull Tri-City closer, but LeGall shut the door and covered the puck seven minutes in.

Later, on the American’s power play, Nolan Chastko broke free for a shorthanded breakaway after beating both defensemen to a loose puck. Chastko went forehand to backhand, but Ryan Grout sprawled out to make a spectacular glove save.

It was a rough period for Jake Gudelj, who tripped a Silvertips player during a breakout late in the frame—but Tri-City killed off the penalty.

Just after returning to the ice, Gudelj delivered a double minor for boarding with 55 seconds left in the second period following a battle along the boards at center. That penalty left the Americans in a deep hole heading into the third, already trailing by three.

Everett led 4–1 after two, outshooting Tri-City 39–19.

3rd Period

Everett opened the final period with three minutes of power play time, but the Tri-City penalty kill held firm.

After a quiet first ten minutes, the Silvertips struck again on a pretty give-and-go for their second power play goal of the night.

Vanhanen gained the Tri-City line and chipped the puck to Miettinen at the blue line. Miettinen quickly sent a return pass to Vanhanen, who cut to the net and snuck a shot past Grout’s mask for his first career WHL goal.

Everett added another to make it 6–1 after a relentless forecheck.

Following a turnover behind the American’s net, Nolan Cauffey backhanded one to Jesse Heslop out front, who finished cleanly from the slot.

The Silvertips showed no mercy, and Miettinen completed his hat trick shorthanded at 13:53.

After Savin Virk missed a pass in the slot, the puck slid the length of the ice. Elick reached it first but had his clearing attempt blocked by Vanhanen, who quickly spun and fed Miettinen alone in front. Miettinen hammered a one-timer past Grout from close range.

That capped off the night, as Everett cruised to a 7–1 victory.

What’s Next/Post Game Notes

Tri-City were simply outclassed by a much better Everett team. The Silvertips were able to outshoot Tri-City 57-27 in the contest as well to go along with the victory.

Special-Teams wise, Everett went 2/7 on the power play, while Tri-City would go 1/5.

This was the second game in a row that defenseman Carter Savage missed for Tri-City with an upper-body injury.

In other news, overage forward Jake Gudelj played in his 200th Career WHL Game. Along with that, Tri-City goaltender Ryan Grout set a new career high in saves with 50.

Tri-City will now look to hopefully leave this one in Everett. Tri-City now sets their eyes on the home opener tomorrow night against the Wenatchee Wild while also in search of their first win of the season.