EVERETT — When the Vancouver Giants struck Saturday night, they struck hard and fast.
The Everett Silvertips recovered once. They couldn’t do it again.
Vancouver twice scored two goals in a short span, and the second double proved to be the knockout blow as the Giants defeated the Silvertips 5-2 at Comcast Arena.
Brent Regner and Chris Cloud scored 31 seconds apart in the second period to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead. Then after the Tips fought back to tie it, Michal Repik and Neil Manning scored 1:07 apart in the third to restore the Giants’ two-goal advantage.
“I just liked the way we kept responding,” Vancouver coach Don Hay said. “Obviously scoring two goals quick two times during a game gives you a lot of momentum. But Everett kept fighting and pushing and getting back in the game.
“Your next shift after a goal you obviously want to keep that momentum and I thought we were able to do that both times.”
Regner added a late empty-net goal and Tyson Sexsmith made 30 saves in net for Vancouver (35-12-1-5), which won its third straight.
Jonathan Harty and Kyle Beach scored and Leland Irving made 43 saves for Everett (29-24-0-2), which lost its fourth straight.
Games between Everett and Vancouver have long been ultra-intense affairs and Saturday’s game was no exception, with an endless stream of hard hits, trash talk and scrums after the whistle.
But as much ill will as there is on the ice between the two teams, both seem to appreciate the rivalry.
“It’s hard fought, and I like it,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “I wish we played them every game going into the playoffs. Win or lose it forces our guys to play hard. They bring out the best in us and they bring out the passion in our game. We just need to play like that against everybody.”
Said Hay: “It’s just a real intense rivalry between the two teams. I’m sure neither team really likes each other that much. I think that’s real fun for the fans to watch the intensity put forth by both teams. Both teams are very competitive and that’s what the game’s all about.”
Everett usually saves its best effort for Vancouver. But as hard as Everett played Saturday, the Tips couldn’t overcome the two-for-one tradeoffs.
Vancouver’s second double strike finally finished the Tips off. Repik broke the 2-2 tie at 6:31 of the third period, snapping a shot past Irving immediately after a faceoff during which the Tips showed some confusion.
Then at 7:38 the Giants scored again when, on a four-on-two break, Manning put in a rebound after Casey Pierro-Zabotel’s shot was saved.
“It’s definitely tough to battle back when they’re scoring two goals a minute apart each time,” Beach said. “I guess that’s a credit to them. They took momentum from the first one and got another one. We’ve got to be prepared and be ready to stop those.”
Everett finished with a healthy total of 15 shots in the third period, but that paled in comparison to Vancouver’s 24, a total which would have been a game’s worth against Everett last season.
“We played hard,” Becanic said. “We tried to be physical the whole game and they were physical back. Those two goals (in the third period) emotionally took us out of it. It was two costly mistakes that our players were prepared for, they just didn’t execute.”
After a jam-packed first period that produced just about everything but goals, the Giants changed the game’s complexion early in the second. First, at 4:29 with the Giants on the power play, Lance Bouma set up Regner at the far post with a backdoor pass. Then at 5:00 Cloud picked the puck out of a scrum at one post, skated behind the net and wrapped the puck in at the opposite post, and suddenly the Giants had a 2-0 lead.
Everett got one back quickly at 6:39. On the power play Dan Gendur hit the crossbar with a shot from the point, the puck dropping behind Sexsmith. Harty reached in and banged it in to make it 2-1. Then the Tips tied it up 50 seconds into the third with another power-play goal, Beach banging in a rebound on the second attempt.
Giants 5, Silvertips 2
Vancouver023—5
Everett011—2
@5. NHL box :First Period—No goals. Penalties—Hunt, Vancouver (checking from behind), 0:16; Gendur, Everett (tripping), 4:08; Harper, Everett (checking from behind), 6:20; Bouma, Vancouver (goaltender interference), 7:59; Crowley, Everett (hooking), 11:46.
Second Period—1, Vancouver, Regner 6 (Bouma, Pierro-Zabotel), 4:29 (pp). 2, Vancouver, Cloud 6 (Henry, Hunt), 5:00. 3, Everett, Harty 10 (Gendur, Harper), 6:39 (pp). Penalties—Kieffer, Everett (hooking), 1:33; Kieffer, Everett (delay of game), 3:48; LaRochelle, Vancouver (roughing-roughing-10-minute misconduct), 5:31; Kane, Vancouver (roughing), 5:31; Beach, Everett (roughing), 5:31; Schira, Vancouver (roughing), 14:28; Beach, Everett (elbowing), 14:28; Hunt, Vancouver (high sticking), 19:16.
Third Period—4, Everett, Beach 25 (Gendur, Harty), 0:50 (pp). 5, Vancouver, Repik 20 (Bliznak), 6:31. 6, Vancouver, Manning 1 (Pierro-Zabotel, Schira), 7:38. 7, Vancouver, Regner 7, 18:13 (en). Penalties—Hunt, Vancouver (interference), 12:44; Burt, Everett (tripping), 14:44; Hunt, Vancouver (fighting), 19:14; Harty, Everett (fighting), 19:14; English, Everett (roughing), 19:45; Cloud, Vancouver (fighting), 19:49; Potuer, Everett (fighting), 19:49.
Shots on goal—Vancouver 11-13-24—48. Everett 13-4-15—32. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 1 of 7. Everett 2 of 6.
Goalies—Vancouver, Sexsmith 33-9-1-5 (32 shots, 30 saves). Everett, Irving 21-20-0-2 (47 shots, 43 saves).
A—8,382.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
