EVERETT, JAN. 22: The Everett Silvertips swept the season series from the Kelowna Rockets in dramatic fashion Wednesday night, earning a 5-3 comeback victory over the Memorial Cup-hosting Rockets.
Dawson Gerwing opened the scoring for Kelowna, redirecting a Mazden Leslie shot for his seventh goal of the year.
Tij Iginla buried a break-in goal 9:23 into the second period on a delayed penalty, tucking a chance by the leg of Anders Miller for his 17th of the season. Tomas Poletin followed up at 14:53, wiring a shot from the left circle through traffic for a 3-0 Kelowna lead.
Matias Vanhanen cut into the deficit with 17 seconds left in the middle frame, spinning a shot from the hashmarks through the legs of Harrison Boettiger for his ninth goal of the campaign.
Clarke Schaefer banged in a rebound goal off a Mattias Uyeda’s shot from the boards at 7:31 in the second period to bring the Tips within one. Everett tied the game at 11:48, as Carter Bear sprang ahead on an odd-man rush and rifled home his first of two on the night.
Gifted a delay of game penalty just 20 seconds later, the Silvertips made the Rockets pay as Rylan Gould capitalized on a powerplay breakaway at 12:28 to give the Silvertips the lead.
Bear tacked on an empty-netter at 19:51, his 18th goal of the year, to seal the victory- their 12th straight in the regular season series against the Rockets.
Anders Miller stopped 23 of 26 in the win. The Silvertips improved to 34-6-2-1, their league-leading 71st point in the standings. Everett is now 6-4-1 when trailing after two periods.