EVERETT — This time there was no third period letdown.
The Everett Silvertips scored two goals in both the second and third periods and relied on a stout defensive effort as they defeated the Spokane Chiefs 4-0 Saturday in the preseason Holiday Inn Classic before several hundred fans at Xfinity Arena.
Saturday’s victory came after a 5-4 Friday night win over Victoria during which the Tips built a three-goal lead only to nearly let it slip away several times in the waning seconds.
Maintaining the intensity for the full 60 minutes was a point of emphasis prior to Saturday’s game, and the result was a shutout as Everett improved to 2-0 in preseason games.
“They harped on it early this morning about how we had a weak third (period Friday),” said Silvertips defenseman Mackenzie Dwyer. “(The coaches) made sure we were ready to go today.”
The Tips allowed 31 shots Saturday — a far cry from the 43 they surrendered Friday.
“If you’re working hard it’s hard for the other team to have time and space to do a lot of things,” Tips head coach Kevin Constantine said. “We talked about a lot of really good things that happened in (Friday) night’s game, but we also acknowledged that we gave up 43 shots and that we had a lot of work to do still.”
The hard work was evident Saturday. Spokane’s best scoring chances came early, but goaltender Mario Petit saved all 31 shots to record the shutout.
“The team definitely helped a lot with that. They didn’t give up many chances and they made it easy for me,” said Petit, an 18-year-old rookie from Manitoba. “The defense was more consistent and the communication was a lot better.”
Matt Fonteyne gave the Tips a 1-0 lead with 11:57 gone in the second when he took a pass from Patrick Bajkov at the top of the crease and flicked it past Spokane goaltender Tyson Verhelst.
Later in the period Graham Millar found a trailing Dwyer in front of the net, and Dwyer punched in the Tips’ second goal at 16:33 for a 2-0 lead.
“The goal was pretty much all Graham Millar,” Dwyer said. “We had some chemistry from playing together previously in Saskatoon.”
Cole Chorney added the third goal for the Tips at 5:04 in the third period with an assist from Spencer Gerth.
Yan Khomenko provided the final goal on a power play at 7:52 with assists from Dwyer and Millar. It was Khomenko’s second goal in as many preseason games.
“I think a lot of those goals started with a lot of hard work,” Constantine said. “A little bit of physical play and a lot of hard work and all of sudden, boom, you get a scoring chance out of that.”
The Silvertips conclude the preseason tournament at 7 tonight against Portland.
Seattle 5, Royals 3
Five different players scored for Seattle, which received three assists from Keegan Kolesar and two from Jarret Tyszka.
The Thunderbirds built a 4-1 lead with Gustav Olhaver’s goal 40 seconds into the third period, and Victoria never got closer than two the rest of the way.
Alex Forsberg, Regan Nagy and Matthew Phillips recorded goals for the Royals, who play the Tri-City Americans at 11:30 this morning.
Seattle takes on Spokane at 3 today.
Portland 3, Tri-City 2 (OT)
Paul Bittner scored the game-winner at 3:12 in the first overtime period as the Winterhawks won their second game in as many days at Xfinity.
Portland trailed 2-1 late in the third period, but Brett Clayton’s goal at 17:31 forced the overtime session. Alex Overhardt also scored for Portland.
Brian Williams and Taylor Vickerman scored for Tri-City.
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