EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips rallied to within one goal after falling behind 3-0 against the Medicine Hat Tigers Friday Night at XFINITY Arena, but ultimately fell 5-2 after a late empty-net goal. Although the Tigers handed the ‘Tips their sixth loss of the season, Everett remains the top team in the U.S. Division at 17-6-3-1 heading into Saturday’s road matchup with Portland.

Remi Laurencelle scored back-to-back powerplay goals for the ‘Tips, the second of which was a tip-in of a shot by Cole MacDonald midway through the second period as Everett got back within one goal in the game. Nikita Scherbak assisted on both scores to increase his team-leading point total to 35 in just 22 games played this season. Newly-acquired forward Jake Mykitiuk also made his Silvertips debut in the contest.

The Silvertips had good scoring opportunities in the first and outshot Medicine Hat 10-6, but trailed 2-0 after one on two special teams goals. A turnover by the ‘Tips on their first powerplay created a two-man breakaway for the Tigers, where Cole Sanford buried a pass from Trevor Cox. Later in the frame, Medicine Hat scored on a powerplay of their own as Cox redirected a shot underneath the pads of goaltender Austin Lotz.

The Tigers went up 3-0 early in the second after a slapshot from center took a wild bounce off the glass and ended up in front of the net, where Chad Labelle scored. Down by three, the Silvertips scored twice in two minutes to get within one goal later in the period. Remi Laurencelle scored on the powerplay at 14:31, diving through the crease and batted the rebound of a Nikita Scherbak shot to make it 3-1. Medicine Hat took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the goal celebration to send Everett back to the powerplay, where Laurencelle deflected Cole MacDonald’s low wrist shot to bring the Silvertips within one. Momentum for Everett was stifled shortly after when Trevor Cox scored his second of the game to restore a two-goal lead for the Tigers. The ‘Tips held a commanding 22-11 lead on the shot clock, but faced a 4-2 deficit heading into the final frame.

The Silvertips outshot the Tigers 9-5 in the third, but were unable to reduce the deficit and eventually pulled Austin Lotz for an extra skater with 5:33 remaining in the game. Despite a 6-on-4 powerplay opportunity and plenty of scoring chances, Everett was unable to beat Marek Langhamer again and finally gave up an empty-net goal with 33 seconds left to seal a 5-2 Medicine Hat victory. Final shots were 31-16 for the Silvertips.

Silvertips goaltender Austin Lotz (13-5-1-1) turned away 11 of the 15 shots faced in 55 minutes of play. Marek Langhamer (15-4-1-1) made 29 saves in net for the Tigers. Everett was 2 for 4 on the powerplay and killed off 1 of 3 Medicine Hat powerplays.

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Their five-game homestand now complete, the ‘Tips will play their next two games on the road. Everett travels to Portland Saturday night to face the Winterhawks at 7:00 pm, with radio broadcast coverage on Fox Sports 1380. Everett then visits Tri-City on Tuesday before returning to XFINITY Arena for two more home games next weekend.

For more information call 425-252-5100, “like” the Everett Silvertips Hockey Club on Facebook or follow @WHLSilvertips on Twitter.