EVERETT — Games that follow a week of practice have given the Everett Silvertips fits this season.
That trend held true Friday in a 7-4 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks at Xfinity Arena. Yet it was an apparent goal that was not allowed that turned the tide of Friday’s game.
Down 4-1 at the start of the third, the Silvertips rallied on goals by Matt Fonteyne and Carson Stadnyk to pull within one. Then Everett newcomer Brandon Ralph, acquired via trade with Edmonton on Tuesday, appeared to score and the Silvertips began to celebrate.
The trouble was, the goal judge ruled it hadn’t crossed the line. Portland then countered on the other end to go back up 5-3 at 10:52 in the third.
“I think it went post to post — I’ll have to look at the video,” said Fonteyne, who was on the bench at the time. “But I think it was on the goal line, so I guess (with) the energy we saw, we thought it went in and I guess it didn’t go in. It was kind of a turning point for us.”
Portland (4-3 preseason) then added two open net goals in the waning moments, and Ralph scored his first goal in an Everett uniform to complete the scoring. The Tips (4-2 preseason) lost for the first time in three games with the Winterhawks.
The trend of slow starts is something the Tips will attempt to fix.
“I think it’s been a problem for us — going from practice to games — and that’s obviously something we need to work on going into the regular season,” Fonteyne said. “It’s definitely something we’ll work on going into the next game, and hopefully we can figure it out before the regular season starts.”
Heinrich and Skyler McKenzie had two goals and an assist apiece for the Winterhawks. Remi Laurencelle had a goal and assist for Everett.
McKenzie opened the scoring for Portland with a shot to the upper right corner of the net at 1:50 in the first period. He then pushed the lead to 2-0 with an unassisted goal at 8:35 in the opening period.
Laurencelle cut Everett’s deficit in half off a rebound at 11:25, but Ryan Hughes added Portland’s third goal at 15:13 in the first to put reclaim the two-goal advantage. Heinrich collected another rebound and buried it at 15:09 in the second as Portland extended its lead to 4-1.
The Silvertips conclude the preseason tonight against Victoria at 7.
Scherbakov’s season over
Russian import defenseman Alexander Scherbakov’s season is over practically before it had begun. The 1998-born Moscow native will undergo season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson confirmed Friday.
Scherbakov (5-11, 220) was the 55th overall selection in the 2015 CHL import draft. He was injured during Everett’s win over the Portland Winterhawks on Sept. 6 and has not appeared on the ice since.
Follow Silvertips writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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