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<< Previous   of   Next >> Mark Mulligan/The Herald  (click to enlarge) Goalie Kent Simpson of the Everett Silvertips eyes an incoming shot during the second period of his team's 4-2 loss to the Spokane Chiefs on Friday night.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, August 30, 2008 Silvertips fall to Spokane in preseason opener By Nick Patterson Herald Writer EVERETT -- Perhaps the biggest question facing the Everett Silvertips heading into the 2008-09 Western Hockey League season is: Where are the goals going to come from? After game No. 1 of the preseason, that question has yet to be answered. Everett created many scoring chances but few goals, and the Tips opened play with a 4-2 loss to the Spokane Chiefs on Friday night during the first day of the Everett Silvertips Preseason Tournament. Playing against a Spokane team almost completely devoid of the stars from its 2008 Memorial Cup-championship team, Everett outshot the Chiefs 34-21, including 30-11 over the final two periods. But with star winger Kyle Beach not playing for Everett, the Tips were missing that cutting edge in front of goal. "We created a lot," Everett coach John Becanic said. "We had new players playing in new positions and a lot of different systems we've tried out. Some of the systems looked a little ugly, but that's the way things are going to look when you're changing things. We've changed some things drastically from last year, so it's going to take time." Dustin Donaghy scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period for a Spokane team that could have passed for a midget squad -- the lineup included four 15-year-olds and five 16-year-olds. Mitch Holmberg and Levko Koper also scored for the Chiefs, with Seth Compton adding a late empty netter. Former Everett prospect James Reid made 32 saves in net to earn the win for Spokane. Everett's goals came from an unlikely source as defenseman Tyler Kieffer, scoreless in 27 games with the Tips last season, found the net twice. "I was just in the right place at the right time," Kieffer said. "I thought it was good," Kieffer added about Everett's overall performance. "(The Chiefs) had some young guys in the lineup, but I thought our young guys came out and played pretty well. It's going to be a lot faster when it gets into the regular season, but first game we got the jitters out. People are starting to play with new linemates and just getting used to playing with each other." Kent Simpson, Everett's first-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft who was making his first start in a Silvertips uniform, made 17 saves in goal for the Tips. Despite the loss, Becanic took several positives from the opening game. "I don't think we missed a lot of hits, we played fairly physical," said Becanic, who singled out veteran Matt Ius and newcomer Tyler Parker for praise. "We only took three penalties, so that's a positive as usually in preseason games there's lots of penalties. And I thought we played faster and moved the puck well." But Becanic wasn't satisfied with the performance of some of his veterans. "I thought there were some individual performances that were disappointing, some veteran players who played a little too casual to my liking," Becanic said, without naming names. "They had about seven studs missing from the lineup and four 15-year-olds in the lineup, so I was hopeful the result would have been better." Everett, which trailed 1-0 after one period, surged ahead when Kieffer scored twice in two minutes early in the second. First, at 5 minutes 23 seconds, he put in a rebound from the left slot just as a Spokane penalty ended, tying the game. Then, 1:59 later, he joined a rush, and scored from close range, giving the Tips the lead. However, the Chiefs tied the game at 18:25 when Koper scored on a breakaway just as he left the penalty box. Then, at 10:29 of the third period, Donaghy scored what proved to be the game-winner when his slap shot from the point hit Simpson in the mask, rolled over and trickled across the goal line. Slap shots: Everett signed forwards Tyler Maxwell and Ryan White, and defenseman Drew McDermott to WHL education contracts prior to Friday's game. All three are 17-year-olds hoping to make the team as rookies this season. ... Chilliwack overcame a two-goal, third-period deficit to defeat Seattle 4-2 in the opening game of the tournament. Kevin Sundher scored three of the goals during Chilliwack's comeback. ... Kruise Reddick had three goals and two assists as Tri-City defeated Portland 6-2 in Friday's middle game. All three games were at Comcast Arena. Chiefs 4, Silvertips 2 Spokane 1 1 2--4 Everett 0 2 0--2 @5. NHL box :First Period--1, Spokane, Holmberg 1 (Ulmer, Baldwin), 13:19 (pp). Penalties--Burt, Everett (slashing), 4:25; Donaghy, Spokane (checking from behind), 6:40; Abney, Everett (elbowing), 12:04; Maxwell, Everett (hooking), 15:03. Second Period--2, Everett, Kieffer 1 (Burt, McDermott), 5:23. 3, Everett, kieffer 2 (Dailey, Harper), 7:22. 4, Spokane, Koper 1 (Letts), 18:25. Penalties--Betz, Spokane (high sticking), 1:37; Baldwin, Spokane (holding), 3:19; Brassart, Spokane (high sticking-high sticking), 16:17; Burt, Spokane (hooking), 16:17. Third Period--5, Spokane, Donaghy 1 (Koper), 10:29. 6, Spokane, Compton 1, 19:37 (en). Penalties--Baldwin, Spokane (fighting-game misconduct), 1:44; Abney, Everett (fighting-game misconduct), 1:44; Falk, Spokane (boarding), 15:25. Shots on goal--Spokane 10-6-5--21. Everett 4-16-14--34. Power-play opportunities--Spokane 1 of 3. Everett 0 of 5. Goalies--Spokane, Reid 1-0 (34 shots, 32 saves). Everett, Simpson 0-1 (20 shots, 17 saves). Nick Patterson's Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog

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