The Game (Story)
EVERETT – The first three times the Everett Silvertips and Kamloops Blazers played this season the Tips won all three by a single goal.
On Friday nothing changed much as the Blazers prevailed 3-2 in overtime 4,612 fans, among them parents of the Everett players on Parents Weekend at Xfinity Arena.
Kamloops winger Deven Sideroff scored the game-winner at 1:25 in the overtime session as the Blazers escaped with the victory after surrendering a two-goal lead in the final period.
“I think for this game we played a full 60 minutes instead of just playing the third (period),” said Everett forward Remi Laurencelle, who tied the game with less than a minute to play to force overtime. “Obviously a big comeback against Kelowna (Wednesday) with an unfortunate loss again too, but I think for the most part we played more consistently than we did against Kelowna.”
It was the second overtime game among the four between Everett and Seattle this season. It was also the second straight game in which the Silvertips erased a deficit of at least two goals in the final period to require overtime following a four-goal third-period output against the Rockets on Wednesday.
The Silvertips (35-20-4-2, 76 points) picked up a point in the standings and remained five points up on second-place Seattle, which won at Tri-City on Friday. The Tips and Thunderbirds square off tonight at 6 at the ShoWareCenter in Kent.
“I think every point is crucial and getting that one was big,” Laurencelle said. “Obviously an unfortunate loss, but in the end we gotta worry about the next game, worry about tomorrow, and getting that one point is huge for us.”
Kamloops (28-24-5-4, 65 points) remains in the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference and moved four points up on surging Tri-City.
Everett played with a full complement of 18 skaters for the first time in several weeks as forward Brandon Ralph and defenseman Lucas Skrumeda returned to the lineup. But star defenseman Noah Juulsen was scratched with an upper body injury.
“All of that playing short has taken a serious toll, I think, on guys’ energy,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “Getting guys back will start the process of restoring some of that energy, but that might not come till next week when we get a couple more bodies back and that might not come until we get some days off next week. In the meantime right now it’s a matter of will and how much you want things. The mind is amazingly powerful and the mind is much stronger than the body, so if the mind tells us we’re OK we’ll be fine.”
The Blazers built a 2-0 lead through two periods, but the Tips scored twice in the final 20 minutes to force the extra session.
The Tips first reached the scoreboard at 6:55 in the third period. Matt Fonteyne won a power play faceoff and played the puck straight to Carson Stadnyk in the slot who put it past Kamloops goalie Connor Ingram to cut the lead to 2-1.
With 2:01 to go in the game, Constantine pulled goaltender Mario Petit for an extra skater and Laurencelle flicked the tying goal by Ingram with 31 seconds to play to knot the game at 2-2.
Laurencelle appeared to give the Tips the lead on the power play two minutes into the game with his slap shot from the left circle. But the officials waved it off, ruling that Everett forward Yan Khomenko was in the crease.
“It felt like (the momentum) slowly shifted – not at first,” Laurencelle said of the disallowed goal. “I think guys were more excited like ‘let’s get going’ kind of thing. But I think once they scored their first goal we may have laid back a little bit and we wanted to get back on our game again. I still think we played consistent. We didn’t drop down to a dramatic standpoint, but I think for the most part we played good.”
Kamloops took the 1-0 lead when an Everett turnover in its own zone found its way to the stick of Matt Revel, whose wrister snuck over Petit’s right shoulder at 17:44 in the opening period.
The Blazers pushed the lead to 2-0 at 14:32 when Quinn Benjafield redirected Dawson Davidson’s point shot and the puck dribbled past the prone Petit. Kamloops took that two-goal lead into the third.
Petit finished with 24 saves while Ingram tallied 34.
The Game
The Tips thrice defeated the Blazers by one goal, so it was probably Kamloops’ turn to steal one.
Everett once again showed its third period mettle as it scored twice to pick up a standings point and set up a big game tonight at Seattle (how many times have we typed that this season?)
“It speaks character for sure,” Laurencelle said. “Coming back from behind is always a struggle. It requires a lot more effort. When there are five minutes left you kind of get anxious and it gets thrilling. I think our guys played pretty well and we work hard and we’re fortunate we got that goal.”
It was the second straight game with a disallowed goal by the Tips and this one seemed even more suspect than the one on Wednesday. While Everett didn’t immediately surrender a goal like it did after the waved-off goal against Kelowna, Constantine did say it affected the team.
“It was a big momentum change in the game not getting that first goal for all the work you put in and then – I don’t think we did – but then you can kind of start feeling sorry for yourself a little,” Constantine said. “I don’t know that our players did that – I’m not trying to say that. But that just kind of zaps a little bit of your energy.”
I thought Mario Petit was solid in net, but Connor Ingram deserved this win. He was impressive as the Tips had multiple chances to get on the board prior to the final period.
The Turning Point
Laurencelle’s disallowed goal came less than two minutes into the game. Instead of a 1-0 lead the Tips allowed a late goal in the opening period and trailed 2-0 through two.
Three Stars
1. Everett F Remi Laurencelle: The overager scored the game-tying goal to force overtime.
2. Everett F Carson Stadynk: Laurencelle’s linemate scored the first goal off a faceoff win by Matt Fonteyne.
3. Kamloops G Connor Ingram: The netminder recorded 34 saves on 36 shots to earn the win.
Honorable Mention: Kamloops F Matt Revel (1G), Kamloops F Quinn Benjafield (1G), Kamloops F Deven Sideroff (GWG).
Bonus
Connor Dewar’s game-tying tally was named the No. 1 play of the week by the WHL, so I’ve embedded it one more time below:
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