EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips conjured up a game-winner in Russia on Saturday night.
Everett’s Russian duo of Ivan Nikolishin and Nikita Scherbak combined on the game-winner in overtime, giving the Tips a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds at Xfinity Arena.
In front of a large crowd on hand for Everett’s Pink the Rink event for breast cancer awareness, Nikolishin converted a back-door feed from Scherbak 41 seconds into the extra period to send fans home happy.
“This feels great, to win in front of such a big crowd,” Nikolishin said. “We just couldn’t lose in front of this crowd, we owed them.”
Cole MacDonald also scored and Austin Lotz made 24 saves in net for Everett (8-1-2-1).
“I think we played really good,” Nikolishin said. “We played hard and just battled.”
Scott Eansor scored and Taran Kozun finished with 28 saves in net for the T-birds.
Everett spent most of the game trailing 1-0. But MacDonald scored a power-play goal midway through the third to tie it. Then the game’s decisive moment came with 1:21 remaining when Seattle’s Justin Hickman was called for a high-sticking penalty, giving the Tips a late power play.
The T-birds managed to kill off the end of regulation to ensure themselves a point. But Everett still had 39 seconds to start the overtime period with a four-on-three advantage. Then, just as the power play expired, the Russian connection went to work. Scherbak cut left across the center point and fired a pass to the back door where Nikolishin one-timed it past Kozun to end the game and start the celebrations.
“We had a four-on-three and Kevin (Constantine, Everett’s coach) just told us what to do,” Nikolishin said about the goal. “We just stuck to the plan, Scherby made an excellent pass, I just had to shoot it on net.
“It doesn’t really matter who passed it, if I scored or somebody else scored,” Nikolishin added when asked about the Russian factor. “It’s just nice to win a game in overtime in front of this kind of crowd.”
Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk exploded after the game about the officiating in general, and the call on Hickman in particular.
“I am so tired of the officiating in this league,” Konowalchuk said. “I can’t find it on the tape, I can’t find it. I asked my player honestly, ‘Did you touch him?’ He said, ‘My stick was up, I didn’t touch him.’ You’ve got a guy at the red line calling it, the guy in the corner doesn’t call it. The first (penalty) of the game they grab our guy’s stick and fall. The officiating has got to get better, it’s atrocious.”
Everett had the edge in play during the first period, outshooting Seattle 12-4. However, it was the T-birds who found the net at 4:50. Scherbak gambled for the interception in the neutral zone, allowing Seattle to break three-on-two. Then Donovan Neuls made a nice pass to find Eansor, who fired past Lotz to give the T-birds a 1-0 lead.
Neither team found the net during the second period. Everett’s Kohl Bauml had a free run at goal midway through the period with the teams skating four-on-four, and although he beat Kozun with his move, he lost control of the puck in the process. Seattle then had a pair of good looks late in the period by Nolan Volcan and Eansor, but Lotz made the save both times, and it remained 1-0 going into the third.
Seattle had chances to create a cushion early in the third period, but Turner Ottenbreit’s blast from the point during a power play went off the crossbar, and Lotz denied Eansor on a short-handed breakaway.
Then moments after Lotz’s big save the Tips tied it. MacDonald was the player who fumbled the puck at the blue line to give Eansor his chance. But he atoned by receiving the puck in space at the center point, gliding toward goal, then picking out the right corner to knot it at 1-1.
Both teams had chances to win it in regulation, but each goaltender made a good stop to make sure both teams got at least a point.
Slap shots
Everett gave a Western Hockey League debut to 17-year-old winger Nik Malenica. Malenica sat out Everett’s first 11 games as a healthy scratch. … Seattle played without two of its top defensemen. Shea Theodore is still with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, rehabilitating an elbow injury suffered during Anaheim’s training camp. Evan Wardley was serving the sixth game of a seven-game suspension handed down by the WHL for a checking-to-the-head major penalty against Portland on Oct. 11. … Everett’s Pink the Rink efforts paid off. During the game the Tips raised $85,917 for the Providence Regional Medical Center, the most Everett has ever raised at a Pink the Rink function.
Silvertips 2, Thunderbirds 1 (OT)
Seattle 1 0 0 0 — 1
Everett 0 0 1 1 — 2
First Period—1, Seattle, Eansor 3 (Neuls, Volcan), 4:50. Penalties—Baltram, Seattle (hooking), 7:07; Neuls, Seattle (tripping), 9:30.
Second Period—no goals. Penalties—Hickman, Seattle (roughing), 3:24; Wegleitner, Everett (checking from behind), 3:24; Fonteyne, Everett (roughing), 3:24; Hauf, Seattle (interference), 6:55; Scherbak, Everett (boarding), 7:16; Hauf, Seattle (roughing), 18:51; Low, Everett (roughing), 18:51.
Third Period—2, Everett, MacDonald 4 (Bauml, Davis), 7:01 (pp). Penalties—Skrumeda, Everett (high sticking), 2:42; True, Seattle (high sticking), 5:26; Hickman, Seattle (high sticking), 18:39.
Overtime—3, Everett, Nikolishin 4 (Scherbak, Davis), 0:41. Penalties—none.
Shots on goal—Seattle 4-8-13-0—25. Everett 12-9-8-1—30. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 0 of 3. Everett 1 of 5.
Goalies—Seattle, Kozun 5-3-2-1 (30 shots, 28 saves). Everett, Lotz 6-1-1-1 (25 shots, 24 saves).
A—7,654.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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