Silvertips Sneak Past Giants in OT

Kevin Davis scored 2:32 into overtime to give the Everett Silvertips a hard fought 2-1 win over the Vancouver Giants on Friday night at Comcast Arena. Joel Hamilton had the lone Vancouver goal in the loss. For Everett, the victory moved them into a tie in the standings with Vancouver, but the Silvertips sit in sixth by virtue of the fact that they have two games in hand.

The first period was a quick one with only four whistles over the entire 20 minutes. Mirco Mueller had a couple of early chances on long shots from the point, including one that produced a rebound right at the top of the crease, but Kohl Bauml couldn't find the loose puck. Thomas Foster had the best Vancouver chance of the opening frame when he forced a turnover at the Everett blue line and skated in alone on goal, but Silvertips net minder Austin Lotz stopped him with the left pad.

Dalton Sward nearly opened the scoring for the G-Men early in the second period when he fired a shot off the post from in close off the rebound of an Alec Baer shot. The Silvertips opened the scoring shortly thereafter when Dawson Leedahl beat Jared Rathjen from the bottom of the right circle. Cain Franson had a golden chance to tie the game later in the middle frame when Jackson Houck found him with a beautiful cross-crease pass on a two-on-one, but Lotz slide across to his left to make a strong glove save.

The Giants found an equalizer less than four minutes into the third period when Hamilton knocked a loose puck across the goal line after a hard net drive off the left wing from Tim Traber. The G-Men thought they had taken the lead later in the stanza when a loose Dominik Volek fired a shot on net from the slot that was stopped by Lotz, and the rebound bounced back out, off Volek's leg, and into the net. However, it was ruled that Volek kicked the puck into the net, and the game would eventually need overtime.

Davis scored his first of the year to end the game on a long one-timer from the blue line that beat Rathjen glove side.

The Vancouver club will look to end their four-game losing streak on Saturday when they host the Portland Winterhawks at the Coliseum. Former Giant and current Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher will be inducted into the Ring of Honour prior to the game. For tickets, call 604-4-GIANTS or visit vancouvergiants.com. Puck drop is set for 7:00pm.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Kevin Davis - Everett
2. Jared Rathjen - Vancouver
3. Austin Lotz - Everett