BLAZERS FALL 6-3 TO SILVERTIPS
By Colton Davies – Follow Colton on X
The CHL’s top-ranked Everett Silvertips rolled into town Wednesday night for a matchup against the Kamloops Blazers.
The opening period got off to a modest start, with both teams trading limited chances in the first five minutes. Everett began finding some offensive rhythm and cycled the puck until Julius Miettinen fired a shot at Blazers netminder Ivans Kufterins, who gloved it down. The Silvertips kept pressing, and it was Texas native Cameron Dillard who broke the ice to make it 1–0.
Kamloops responded with energy of their own, as Nathan Behm and Tommy Lafreniere generated a two on one opportunity, but the play was broken up. The Blazers kept pushing and JP Hurlbert fired a shot that rang off the post. Kufterins would then face a flurry of shots, making a series of sprawling saves to keep Everett’s lead at one heading into the intermission.
Kamloops opened the second period on the right track as Jordan Keller buried a feed from Behm to tie the game at 1-1. Keller now sits at 11 goals on the season, tied for first with Hurlbert. Blazers’ Cooper Moore nearly gave the Blazers the lead on a shorthanded breakaway but couldn’t capitalize.
The Silvertips answered with a shorthanded chance of their own, and Shea Busch made no mistake, beating Ivans Kufterins to restore Everett’s lead. Busch struck again minutes later, notching his second of the night.
Kamloops refused to back down, and Logan Lanti responded, scoring his first WHL goal on a quick net front shot, beating Riaden LeGall to cut the lead to one. Kufterins was busy once again late in the frame, turning aside a flurry of chances, even without his stick present.
Everett opened up the third with a goal from Clarke Schaefer to extend the Tips’ lead to two just a couple of minutes into the period. Kufterins would then come up with yet another sporadic save, robbing the Tips of a goal, trying to keep the Blazers chances alive.
Kamloops applied pressure which saw high danger chances from Ty Bonkowski and Keller, but neither could solve LeGall. The Blazers continued to attack, with another opportunity from Behm but LeGall turned it aside.
The Tips would strike again, this time on a powerplay goal from Zackary Shantz who extended the lead to three. Behm generated an offensive chance shortly after, coming through the neutral zone, and notching his eighth goal of the season. Kamloops pulled the netminder and attempted the comeback, with opportunities coming again from Behm and Hurlbert, but were unable to get it done.
