For the second time this season, the U.S. Division’s top two teams were given the Wednesday Night in the Dub showcase matchup, getting to be broadcast for free on the WHL’s YouTube channel. The Everett Silvertips were nominally in the driver’s seat as the Western Conference’s #1 team. However, the Spokane Chiefs entered this game not far behind as a result of their consistent surge since their strong performance at the WHL trade deadline, which featured perhaps the biggest acquisition any team made by way of acquiring a dominating offensive force in the form of Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall. Everett also was set back recently by a season-ending lower body injury to 2025 Draft eligible utility forward Carter Bear, an essential part of their depth. With Everett entering enemy territory while short the player that has arguably been their talisman (even bearing in mind Bear’s decline in offensive productivity before the injury), one had to wonder what was going to occur.

The game began with the clubs feeling each other out somewhat, without either squad sustaining much offensive zone pressure. There was a lot of physical play and perhaps even some questionable activity, including but not limited to one noteworthy hit by Everett D Landon DuPont (2027 NHL Entry Draft) on Spokane F Mathis Preston (2026 NHL Entry Draft). The refs essentially swallowed their whistle, though, until a “Too many men” call on Everett ironically served as the game’s first penalty. The Everett defensive structure remained strong and didn’t allow many quality shots to Spokane’s very potent power play. Eventually, Spokane D Will McIsaac (St. Louis Blues) took the game’s first lead by putting a well-placed rebound past Everett G Raiden LeGall. Assists were credited to Cristall and C Rasmus Ekström. The Silvertips would respond with a goal of their own which also came off a rebound just 1:25 later, when a shot by D Kaden Hammell (Seattle Kraken) came out quite far and found LW Dominik Rymon in a high danger area. Per Everett’s social media, this was Hammell’s 100th career point in the WHL. Fellow Kraken prospect D Julius Miettinen received credit for the secondary assist. Subsequently, Spokane had some offensive zone time but seemed to take mostly empty calorie shots. Eventually, Everett took the lead when RW Jaxsin Vaughan found D Brek Liske, who was left basically alone at the top of the circles, ripped one past Spokane G Dawson Cowan. LeGall made a good stop on Catton with his stick and a bit later, Everett winger Austin Roest had plenty of open net but missed everything with his backhander, surrendering a good opportunity to go up 3-1. Spokane finished the period up 14-6 in shots on goal, but didn’t have anything to show for it due to their poor shot diet. Everett led 2-1 after all was said and done.

The second period began with some strong cycle play conducted by Spokane, with Cristall sending the puck back to D Saige Weinstein, who rifled one at LeGall but was stopped. A couple of lethal chances were had by both teams’ best players. However, Cristall was denied by LeGall in close, and DuPont had a rolling puck bounce off of his skate in a lethal area. Some physical play also occurred in this space, with Spokane F/last draft’s “Mr. Irrelevant” Nathan Mayes (Toronto Maple Leafs) delivering a couple of big hits. Everett were the better club in this period, having better offensive zone possessions and limiting the opportunities that Spokane had (with Cristall’s being robbed by LeGall being their best scoring chance). While they didn’t find the back of the net on the power play for Spokane LW Cameron Parr’s high sticking penalty on DuPont, they did score the middle frame’s sole goal, as Spokane D Brayden Crampton Bowling Green State commit, where he will play under former Everett head coach Dennis Williams) attempted to play the puck back to Cowan but it went into the net, with Everett F Tyler MacKenzie credited for the goal. Everett led the game 3-1 after two periods, with eight shots on goal credited to them compared to Spokane’s nine in the second stanza.

In the final frame, Everett seemed to have the advantage in possession, albeit narrowly, in the early proceedings. A noteworthy instance of things going the other way came 8:14 in when Parr had a decent rush chance but LeGall stopped the puck and sent it into the netting. Subsequently, Liske got a good shot off from up high but the puck was trapped by Cowan. With 9:42 remaining, Shea Van Olm (a member of Spokane’s lethal top line) was tripped by DuPont as the latter was attempting to prevent Van Olm from a break. Not long after, Spokane pulled Cowan for an extra attacker, but it wasn’t necessary. Hammell (an essential PKer for Everett) was called for a high stick to provide the same sort of advantage Spokane wanted without the risk. LeGall did a great job on the subsequent 5-on-3, stopping several looks from the likes of Cristall, Catton, and Ekström. Eventually, though, the unit would eventually break for reasons effectively out of their control. A cycle play by Spokane’s #1 power play ended when Cristall ripped a one-time feed from inside his strong side circle past LeGall, with Catton having set him up from behind the net. Crampton earned the secondary assist on the play. The Silvertips would hold firm for the last 39 seconds of the 5-on-4. They subsequently brought some serious offensive zone presence to Spokane’s end in an attempt to protect their slim lead by growing it. It never happened, but they did their job well. Spokane would launch a rush play where Crampton had a chance to redeem himself with a couple of minutes left, but was stopped; though this gave them time to pull Cowan for the last ditch effort. It didn’t matter, though, as RW Assanali Sarkenov was called for a slash as tensions grew between him and seemingly multiple Everett players. Everett did their job playing keep-away on the man-advantage and an attempted counterattack by Spokane shorthanded, which could have been lethal, was negated by Cowan’s net coming off its moorings. Everett would ultimately kill the last off the clock off and win the game. This was a monumental victory for their aspirations to win the U.S. Division crown and secure the #1 seed in the Western Conference, as it put them 8 points ahead of their closest competition by way of Spokane with just four games remaining for both teams. The road has been arduous for the WHL’s best team by points and it will likely remain that way, but if nothing else, it looks quite likely that they will have the most comfortable possible postseason path to look forward to.