EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips enter their third and final weekend of the preseason tonight as they play host to the Portland Winterhawks at 7 at Xfinity Arena. The final preseason game comes Saturday at home at 7:05 against Victoria.
The defending U.S. Division champion Silvertips bring a 4-1 preseason mark into the weekend including a pair of victories over rival and defending conference champion Portland. Yet head coach Kevin Constantine was quick to note that last week’s victory came with 11 Winterhawks players gone to NHL training camps.
“That’s not really the Portland team we’re going to play,” Constantine said. “We have guys away too, but you have to careful of how you judge games when so many teams have so many players away.”
One area in which Everett must improve is its readiness in the opening game of the weekend. The Silvertips dropped their first game at the Tri-City Invite to Prince George last week Thursday and squeaked by Tri-City in their first preseason game at the Holiday Inn Classic two weeks ago. Each time Everett followed up lackluster opening-game efforts with decisive victories.
“It’s like we took a game to get our heads back into playing a game,” Constantine said. “We got to figure out a way to be sharper, more switched on right away when we get going.”
Russian rookie Yan Khomenko leads the Silvertips with three goals and two assists in four games. Carson Stadnyk also has three goals. Stadnyk was away at St. Louis Blues training camp and did not play last weekend. He has since returned to the Tips.
Dawson Leedahl has two goals and three assists, while Patrick Bajkov and Matt Fonteyne have each scored twice in four games.
Rookie goaltender Mario Petit was been impressive in the preseason. He has allowed just two goals in 164 minutes for a 0.79 goals-against average and 70 saves with a .972 percentage. Returning starter Carter Hart has allowed six goals and made 39 saves in 76 minutes.
Alex Overhardt leads Portland (3-3 preseason) with four goals and two assists. Dominic Turgeon, Brett Clayton and Austin Gray have all scored twice for the Winterhawks. Goaltender Adin Hill is 2-0 with 62 saves. He has a GAA of 2.18 and a .939 save percentage.
Victoria (2-3) of the B.C. Division is led by Regan Nagy’s three goals. Alex Forsberg (two goals, three assists) and Matthew Williams (two goals, three assists) are Victoria’s top overall point producers. Logan Fisher and Keith Anderson have each scored twice.
Logan Thompson has been Victoria’s top netminder thus far having allowed one goal with 18 saves in two games for a .947 save percentage.
The Silvertips are down to 29 players after assigning Cam Dykstra to Amarillo of the NAHL Wednesday, but Everett will need to cut the roster by at least four more prior to the start of the season. Those decisions can’t be made until the four players at NHL training camps either return to Everett or sign professional contracts.
“You can’t get to the numbers you want until you see the whites of the eyes of the guys coming back from NHL camps,” Constantine said. “You’re never sure if they’re coming back or not. We’re still in limbo as far as the NHL guys coming back and so we still have bodies here.”
The Tips open the regular season Sept. 25 at Prince George. The home opener is scheduled for Oct. 10 against Spokane.
Notes
The Silvertips released 19-year-old center Cole Chorney Thursday. Chorney was acquired as a non-drafted listed player this offseason after playing in 64 games with Red Deer over two seasons. … Left wing Brandon Ralph, acquired in a trade with Edmonton Tuesday was at Xfinity Arena Thursday for his first practice as a Silvertip. Ralph, 19, appeared in 113 games for the Oil Kings over the last two seasons with 13 goals and eight assists.
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