EVERETT — The preseason is a time for teams to iron out the wrinkles.
Suffice it to say the Everett Silvertips’ power play could use a trip to the dry cleaners.
The power was missing from Everett’s power play Saturday night as the Tips fell to the Spokane Chiefs 2-1 on day two of the Holiday Inn Preseason Classic at Comcast Arena.
Everett (1-1) finished a dismal 1-for-11 on the power play and allowed Spokane a short-handed goal. The Tips also were unsuccessful on two five-on-three opportunities as they struggled to create any kind of threat with the man advantage. This came one day after Everett finished 0-for-6 on the power play in a 1-0 victory over Victoria.
The Tips weren’t helped by the fact several of the players who would normally be part of their top power-play unit were scratched. Still, Everett’s impotence on the power play was alarming.
“I think guys are still trying to learn the system,” said Tips center Remi Laurencelle, the one player who found a breakthrough on the power play as he scored in the second period. “We have some guys who are new and they’re trying to learn what we’re bringing on the power play. We have some young guys who we’re trying on the top at the point, and pucks are bouncing and we’re not getting very good opportunities. We have to get better at that.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get the win, but I think we played hard,” Laurencelle added. “We got pucks deep and played our game.”
Kailer Yamamoto broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period for Spokane (1-1), which won despite an 11-5 deficit in power plays. Curtis Miske also scored, and Garret Hughson and Alex Moodie combined to stop 31 of 32 shots on goal.
Mario Petit started in goal for Everett and stopped 11 of 12 shots. Nik Amundrud relieved and saved 16 of 17.
The first period was not a good one for Everett’s power play. The Tips had a 4-0 power-play advantage in the period, including 49 seconds of five-on-three. But not only did Everett not score, the Tips gave up a short-hander as Miske outfought Everett defenseman Carter Cochrane for a puck, sped away on a breakaway and fired past Petit to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead at 9:48.
Everett continued to misfire on the power play in the second period until finally finding the breakthrough on its seventh attempt. Brayden Low’s shot created a scramble in front, and Laurencelle was eventually able to put it away to knot the score 1-1 at 12:14.
Spokane regained the lead at 17:07 when Yamamoto beat his defender, raced around the net and banked his wraparound attempt in off Amundrud to make it 2-1.
Earlier games
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice as the Portland Winterhawks defeated the Tri-City Americans 5-2 in the morning game. Paul Bittner, Evan Weinger and Ethan Price also scored for the Winterhawks (2-0), and Adin Hill earned the win in goal with 31 saves. Justin Gutierrez and Lucas Nickles scored for Tri-City (0-2). … Ethan Bear scored in overtime to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 5-4 victory over the Victoria Royals in the afternoon contest. Justin Hickman, Lane Pederson, Keegan Kolesar and Mathew Wedman also scored for the T-birds (2-0), and Danny Mumaugh made 29 saves to earn the win. Jared Dmytriw, Matthew Campese, Mitch Skapski and Brandon Fushimi scored for Victoria (0-2), and Evan Smith made 35 saves in net for the Royals.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
Chiefs 2, Silvertips 1
Spokane 1 1 0—2
Everett 0 1 0—1
First Period—1, Spokane, Miske 1, 9:48 (sh). Penalties—Anderson-Dolan, Spokane (checking from behind), 1:04; Miske, Spokane (tripping), 7:27; Sozanski, Spokane (tripping), 8:38; Hamaliuk, Spokane (interference), 15:20; Low, Everett (cross checking), 20:00.
Second Period—2, Everett, Laurencelle 1 (Aasman, Low), 12:14 (pp). 3, Spokane, Ka. Yamamoto 1 (Miske, Fram), 17:07. Penalties—Helewka, Spokane (goaltender interference), 0:26; Elynuik, Spokane (hooking), 0:47; Ke. Yamamoto, Spokane (holding), 10:37; Laday, Spokane (charging), 13:02; Fiala, Spokane (holding), 14:02.
Third Period—no goals. Penalties—Leslie, Everett (roughing), 1:41; Skrumeda, Everett (delay of game), 2:01; Bechtold, Spokane (boarding), 4:40; Pfeifer, Everett (tripping), 10:47; Fram, Spokane (hooking), 11:16; Leedahl, Everett (roughing), 19:44.
Shots on goal—Spokane 6-14-9—29. Everett 9-15-8—32. Power-play opportunities—Spokane 0 of 5. Everett 1 of 11.
Goalies—Spokane, Hughson (15 shots, 15 saves), Moodie 1-0 (17 shots, 16 saves). Everett, Petit (12 shots, 11 saves), Amundrud 0-1 (17 shots. 16 saves).
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