Josh Winquist finished with a hat trick and the Everett Silvertips came back from two multi-goal deficits to beat the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 Sunday night in the final game of the 10th annual Holiday Inn Preseason Classic at Comcast Arena. The ‘Tips finished an unbeaten 3-0 in the tournament to open the preseason and will now head to Tri-City next weekend for more pre-season action at a tournament hosted by the Americans.

PHOTO CREDIT - EverettSilvertips.com

Everett - September 2, 2013 - Josh Winquist finished with a hat trick and the Everett Silvertips came back from two multi-goal deficits to beat the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 Sunday night in the final game of the 10th annual Holiday Inn Preseason Classic at Comcast Arena.

The ‘Tips finished an unbeaten 3-0 in the tournament to open the preseason and will now head to Tri-City next weekend for more pre-season action at a tournament hosted by the Americans.

Winquist added an assist to finish with four points in the contest, while Waltteri Hopponen had a goal and an assist and Manraj Hayer tacked on two helpers.

Hopponen and Patrick Bajkov both scored their first goals in a Silvertips jersey and Logan Aasman notched the game-winning goal to break a 4-4 tie in the third period.

Everett peppered Portland goaltender Jarrod Schamerhorn with 53 shots while surrendered only 23 shots against.

Everett controlled the play for the majority of the first, but Portland had registered the only goal after 20 minutes of play. A turnover in the neutral zone allowed the Winterhawks to bring the puck across the blue ine and Keoni Texeira fired a shot behind goaltender Austin Lotz. Everett continued to generate quality scoring chances and outshot Portland 17-4 in the period, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

A busy middle frame saw a combined seven goals between the two teams to leave the game tied at four heading into the final period. Portland extended their lead with a powerplay goal from Layne Viveiros before Everett responded with two of their own to tie the game. Manraj Hayer raced into the Portland zone and fought to take the puck to the net, where Josh Winquist chipped it over Schamerhorn. Just over two minutes later it was Winquist who carried the puck to the net, with Patrick Bajkov picking up the rebound for the Silvertips’ tying goal.

Portland scored another goal on the powerplay courtesy of Adam Rossignol, which was followed by a shorthanded goal by Chase De Leo to put the Winterhawks up 4-2 midway through the second. The ‘Tips continued to respond as Manraj Hayer intercepted a pass at the ‘Hawks blue line and fed Winquist, who lifted the puck top-corner for his second on the night. Waltteri Hopponen tied the game late in the frame, ripping a Kohl Bauml pass just inside the post to even things up before intermission.

The ‘Tips scored twice and shut the door on Portland in the final 20 minutes of play. Everett’s powerplay unit, which had been solid all night, produced the game-winning goal when Logan Aasman tipped-in a Cole MacDonald shot from the blueline early in the third. Austin Lotz made some key saves and the ‘Tips blocked plenty of shots in front of him to keep Portland off the board. Winquist then completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal to finish the 6-4 win.

Lotz stopped 19 shots to earn the win in goal, while Schamerhorn took the loss despite 47 saves for the Winterhawks. Everett finished 1 for 8 on the powerplay as Portland converted two of four chances.

With the 10th annual Holiday Inn Preseason Classic now concluded, the Silvertips will travel across the state next weekend for two more games at another preseason tournament hosted by the Tri-City Americans. The ‘Tips are set to face the Winterhawks again Friday at 11:00 am and the Kootenay Ice Saturday at 11:00 am, before finishing their exhibition schedule with a home-and-home set against the Seattle Thunderbirds starting on September 13 at Comcast Arena.