Silvertips find a way to beat Medicine Hat

Published: Sunday, November 18, 2012, 10:10 p.m.

Goaltender Daniel Cotton produced a stellar effort just when the Tips needed it most, and Everett came away with an unlikely 2-1 victory over Medicine Hat at Comcast Arena.

Everett was on the back heel throughout Sunday's game, getting outshot 41-18. But Carson Stadnyk scored twice, including the game winner with less than eight minutes remaining, and the Tips somehow made the lead stand up.

"Well, let's just say there's no pictures on the scoresheet," Everett coach Mark Ferner said. "We probably didn't have a lot of business winning that game, but the kids found a way, and that's an important thing. And our goaltending was real good tonight."

The Tips (9-14-0-2) owe a big debt of gratitude to Cotton. Everett looked like a team gassed from playing its third game in three days nights, getting outskated and out worked by the Tigers. But Cotton, starting for the first time in 11 days, was there to pick up the slack. Cotton didn't have many spectacular highlight-reel stops among his 40, but he was always in the right position to make the save.

"I was feeling comfortable," said Cotton, who also credited his teammates for clearing rebounds and blocking shots. "The more you play the more comfortable you get. I hadn't started in a few games so I just focused a lot and did my best to keep things simple."

Curtis Valk scored the lone goal for Medicine Hat (11-13-1-0), which dropped its fourth straight. Cam Lanigan stopped 16 shots in net for the Tigers.

Sunday's victory completed a dramatic turnaround for the Tips in their three-in-three weekend. Everett's weekend seemed doomed for disaster following Friday night's 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Victoria, a game that saw the Tips lose captain Ryan Murray to a dislocated shoulder. But the Tips ended up taking four points away from the weekend, and Everett finds itself back in playoff position in eighth place in the WHL's Western Conference.

"Victoria was a tough trip for our group," Ferner said. "Then we came back and responded with a good effort against Vancouver (winning 6-5 Saturday), and in this situation we were outplayed pretty bad but found a way to win. Good teams find ways to win and hopefully that will turn a corner for us. We need to shore up some areas, no question. Hopefully a lot of it was sheer exhaustion from the travel. But I'm happy for the kids, they found a way to win two real important games for us."

Everett was holding on for dear life throughout the first two periods, despite Stadnyk giving the Tips the lead midway through the second. When the Tips began parading to the penalty box in the third, with Valk converting on a one-timer from the slot at 7 minutes, 34 seconds, it seemed Everett's luck was about to run out.

Originally posted here:

Silvertips find a way to beat Medicine Hat

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