THN's WHL Game Of The Week: Silvertips @ Giants

Welcome to this week's edition of THN's WHL Game of the Week. In this weekly column, we break down one of the most exciting games from the weekend that was. This week, we examine a 15-goal Teddy Bear Toss extravaganza between the Everett Silvertips and Vancouver Giants. 

It didn't take long for stuffed animals to fill the ice at the Langley Events Centre as Jaden Lipinski scored shorthanded just six minutes in for his ninth of the season. Once all the stuffed animals were cleaned up, Everett went to work on the power play, tying the game at 7:35 thanks to Tarin Smith's fifth of the season. The Silvertips would take the lead a few minutes later once again on the power play, as this time, it was Kaden Hammell scoring his second at 15:08 of the first. The scoring would not stop there as Dominik Rymon's 17th of the season at 15:19 made it 4-1 for the Silvertips before Samuel Honzek potted his third of the season on a late power play to get the Giants within two. Overall, the teams went three for three with the man advantage over the first 20 minutes, with Everett holding a 4-2 lead as the period came to a close.

The second started similar to the first as Lipinski buried his second of the night just 31 seconds in on another Vancouver power play. The Giants would eventually tie it at 7:37 thanks to yet another power play goal, this time thanks to Ty Halaburda's tenth of the season. After some back-and-forth play, the Silvertips once again took the lead at 18:00 thanks to Rymon, who scored the sixth power play goal of the game. After 40 minutes and seven special team goals, both teams entered the dressing room tied 4-4, hoping that someone would be able to kill off a penalty. 

In the third, both teams' special teams continued to dominate as Everett scored twice in the span of 10 seconds on the man advantage. First, Ben Hemmerling scored his 11th of the season at 2:08 of the third before Julius Miettinen potted his ninth of the year at 2:18. Vancouver would answer, once again, on the power play thanks to Ty Thorpe's 13th at 9:12. Still, Everett would respond quickly, this time at even strength as Beau Courtney seventh at 10:07 pushed the Silvertips lead back to two. The Giants were not done, though, as they would eventually tie the game at seven. First, Thorpe on a power play at 15:33, followed by Cameron Shmidt's eight at 16:12 for the 14th goal of the night. While it looked like this game was destined for overtime, Hemmerling had other plans, as his 17th at 18:34 stood up as the winner, and Everett escaped with an 8-7 victory. 

In the end, both teams combined to go ten for 12 on the power play, with 11 total special teams goals being scored. With the victory, the Silvertips moved to 19-11-1-1 on the year, while Vancouver dropped to 11-17-2. The question now is, will these two teams be able to replicate this scoring when they meet again in February? 

Make sure to check back next week for another exciting recap of THN's WHL Game Of The Week.