EVERETT — Jordyn Boyd and Ryan Chynoweth have spent their first season with the Everett Silvertips in typical WHL rookie fashion, seeing the occasional shift on the third or fourth lines and spending several in the stands as healthy scratches.
But when things weren’t going well for the Tips on Saturday night, Everett coach Mark Ferner turned to Boyd and Chynoweth, and given the opportunity the pair came through in a big way.
Boyd scored twice to get Everett back into the game, then Chynoweth scored the deciding goal in the shootout on an audacious attempt, giving the Tips a valuable 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants at Comcast Arena.
“I let the kids know they were going to get one shift each to show us they’re going to play the way we need them to play,” said Ferner, who read the team the riot act during the first intermission following a lackluster first period. “Down 3-1 we switched the lines up, Boyd and Chynoweth have been good together all year, and good for those kids. It’s nice that they got a little success offensively because day-in and day-out they’re pretty hard-working kids.”
Everett was on the back foot in the first period and trailed 3-1 early in the second. The 17-year-old Boyd and 16-year-old Chynoweth were elevated to full-time status on a line alongside leading scorer Josh Birkholz as Ferner looked for a spark.
That did the trick. Boyd found the net twice in the second period — the first on the power play and the second on a perfect feed from Chynoweth — as Everett tied the score. Boyd had just four goals in 39 games going into the night.
“Apparently I am,” Boyd said with a smile when asked if he was now the team’s designated goal scorer. “I’ve gotten half my goals in the last two games, so it’s exciting,”
Then in the shootout, after Kohl Bauml barely converted a do-or-die attempt to keep the Tips alive, Chynoweth pulled off a spin-o-rama move around Vancouver goaltender Jackson Whistle to give Everett the lead. Tips netminder Kent Simpson, who was strong throughout, denied Matt Bellerive on the final attempt as Everett won 2-1 for just its second shootout victory in 10 attempts this season.
“That’s one of the tricks I’ve had since pee wee hockey,” Chynoweth said about his winning attempt. “I was thinking on the bench if I got in there I was going to do it. It was pretty risky, but it paid off in the end.”
Ryan Harrison also scored and Simpson finished with 38 saves for Everett (16-33-1-8), which moved back within one point of playoff position with 14 games remaining. Prince George beat Victoria on Saturday and Seattle lost to Portland, meaning the four-way battle for the Western Confernce’s final two playoff positions got even tighter. Victoria and Seattle are tied for seventh with 42 points, Everett is in ninth with 41, and Prince George is in 10th with 40.
“Every two points are crucial,” Boyd said. “Pulling through some adversity through the first and playing better in the second and third, I think that was huge.”
Jordan Martinook scored twice and David Musil also scored for Vancouver (35-21-1-3), which outshot Everett 41-19, including 19-4 in the first period. Whistle finished with 16 saves in net for the Giants.
Everett scored the game’s first goal on its first shot at 5 minutes, 20 seconds of the first period, Harrison one-timing home Cody Fowlie’s two-on-one feed.
However, the Giants controlled play in the period, outshooting the Tips 19-4, and Vancouver rallied to take the lead. Musil’s one-timer from the point took a deflection to tie it at 14:57, then Martinook scored on a mad scramble on the power play at 19:05, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Martinook scored his second of the game 5:46 into the second period, converting a quick feed from Nathan Burns as the Giants appeared to be in control.
But Boyd brought the Tips back into the game. He pulled the Tips within one on the power play at 7:34, picking up a loose puck behind the net, circling the goal and firing a shot through Whistle from a tight angle. Then Boyd tied it at 18:18. Chynoweth, on the rush, waited until Boyd raced into the play, then sent a perfect centering feed that Boyd redirected past Whistle to make it 3-3 going into the third.
Both teams had great scoring chances in the third, but couldn’t put the puck away. Cain Franson missed an open net on the rebound for Vancouver, while Trent Lofthouse shot wide on a clean breakaway for Everett. The Tips received a late power play, but Harrison’s stick snapped on his one-timer attempt and the game went to OT and subsequently a shootout.
Slap shots
Everett avoided playing one short by calling up 16-year-old winger Michael Urbaniak for his WHL debut. … Everett needed Urbaniak because defenseman Brennan Yadlowski was serving the sixth game of his 10-game suspension, while forwards JT Barnett (knee), Manraj Hayer (concussion) and Zach McPhee (head) and defenseman Evan Morden (ankle) are out injured. … Vancouver also was short-handed as forwards Marek Tvrdon (suspended), Anthony Ast (suspended) and Dalton Sward (upper body) were unavailable. The Giants called up 16-year-old center Carter Popoff, who also was making his WHL debut.
Silvertips 4, Giants 3 (SO)
Vancouver 2 1 0 0—3
Everett 1 2 0 0—4
Everett won shootout 2-1
First Period—1, Everett, Harrison 17 (Fowlie, Bauml), 5:20. 2, Vancouver, Musil 4 (Martinook, Burns), 14:57. 3, Vancouver, Martinook 33 (Franson, Musil), 19:05 (pp). Penalties—Fowlie, Everett (tripping), 1:10; Makin, Vancouver (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:50; Vannieuwenhuizen, Vancouver (fighting), 11:26; Grayson, Everett (fighting), 11:26; Bauml, Everett (tripping), 18:22.
Second Period—4, Vancouver, Martinook 34 (Burns, Houck), 5:46. 5, Everett, Boyd 5 (Walters, Murray), 7:34 (pp). 6, Everett, Boyd 6 (Chynoweth, Birkholz), 18:18. Penalties—Orban, Vancouver (fighting), 2:11; Petryk, Everett (fighting), 2:11; Bittner, Everett (hooking), 3:39; Makin, Vancouver (tripping), 6:24.
Third Period—no goals. Penalties—Winquist, Everett (tripping), 3:59; Vanscourt, Vancouver (roughing), 8:25; Musil, Vancouver (tripping), 17:24.
Overtime—no goals. Penalties—none.
Shootout—Everett 2 (Petryk NG, Murray NG, Bauml G, Chynoweth G); Vancouver 1 (Martinook NG, Gallagher G, Franson NG, Bellerive NG).
Shots on goal—Vancouver 19-8-9-3—41. Everett 4-8-7-0—19. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 1 of 4. Everett 1 of 4.
Goalies—Vancouver, Whistle 1-7-0-2 (19 shots, 16 saves). Everett, Simpson 14-26-1-5 (41 shots, 38 saves).
A—7,573.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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