EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips were presented with a golden opportunity for a dramatic late comeback against the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday night.
However, the gremlins that have been plaguing Everett’s power play of late reared their ugly heads again, and the next thing one knows the Tips are trudging off the ice to their third straight defeat.
The Tips were unable to convert an overtime power play, and shortly after Chilliwack’s Ryan Howse scored to give the Bruins a 4-3 victory at Comcast Arena.
Everett played a strong game, outshooting Chilliwack 45-26, and the Tips came from behind three times, with Brennan Yadlowski’s goal with 2 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in regulation assuring Everett at least a point.
The Tips then received a gift when Chilliwack’s Kevin Sundher was whistled for tripping with 50.8 seconds remaining. The power play carried over into overtime, giving Everett an even more-dangerous four-on-three advantage for 1:10.
But Everett’s power play has struggled mightily in recent days — the Tips have converted just one of their past 30 power plays into goals — and the Tips never even got set up in the offensive zone during the four-on-three.
Shortly after the power play expired the puck was in the back of Everett’s net. A misplay in the offensive zone presented the Bruins with a three-on-two. Sundher got the puck to Howse, the league’s leading goal scorer, and Howse’s shot deflected off a defender’s stick and into the corner of the net, ending the game 1:22 into OT.
“When you get a penalty late in the third period like that and have 1:10 of four-on-three, you have to be able to at least set up on it,” Tips captain Landon Ferraro said. “They gave us a huge opportunity and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Being unable to take advantage of chances was a recurring theme for Everett on Wednesday, as the Tips were missing that cutting edge around the net. Meanwhile, the Bruins buried the puck just about every time they had a scoring chance. Robin Soudek, Mike Forsyth and Brandon Manning scored the regulation goals for Chilliwack (4-3-0-0).
Lucas Gore had a solid outing in net for the Bruins, making 42 saves.
“I think our game was pretty good,” Chilliwack coach Marc Habscheid said. “Our play along the boards was pretty good, our commitment level was pretty good. We were kind of wondering about that the last two or three games, and it was a lot better tonight.”
Cody Fowlie and Ferraro also scored for Everett (4-1-1-1). For Fowlie it was his first career WHL goal. Kent Simpson made 22 saves in net for the Tips.
Everett sniper Tyler Maxwell fell short in his bid to set a new franchise record for consecutive games with a goal. He settled for sharing the record of six with Byron Froese and Shane Harper.
Despite the loss, Everett coach Craig Hartsburg was at least pleased he received a full game’s effort from his team.
“We did lots of good things in the offensive zone,” Hartsburg said. “We created lots of chances. It just seemed whenever we got it tied up we’d make a mistake and they’d go down and score. That was the theme of the night, really. We had to keep battling back and we did a good job of keeping pressure on them so we could. But as soon as we did they scored what seemed like an easy goal.”
Everett controlled the puck for most of the game, particularly in the second and third periods when the Tips outshot the Bruins 35-13. Yet Everett found itself trailing 3-2 with less than 10 minutes remaining when Manning skated the puck ahead from his defensive position, leveraged himself around his defender, then scored around Simpson at 10:33 of the third.
Everett battled hard for the tying goal, and the Tips were rewarded at 17:57. After some strong work behind the net the puck was worked to the right point, where Yadlowski stepped into a slap shot and found the far corner, making it 3-3 and forcing overtime.
Slap shots
Everett center Clayton Cuiskey missed his fourth straight game because of a concussion. … Everett right wing Taylor Cote, who was called up Tuesday night, has arrived in Everett but did not dress Wednesday. … Chilliwack played without hard-hitting defenseman Tyler Stahl, who also has a concussion.
Bruins 4, Silvertips 3 (OT)
Chilliwack 1 1 1 1—4
Everett 0 1 2 0—3
First Period—1, Chilliwack, Soudek 2 (Pauls, Manning), 9:06 (pp). Penalties—Wentworth, Chilliwack (goaltender interference), 2:19; Birkholz, Everett (boarding), 8:56; Theriau, Everett (holding), 11:00; Maxwell, Everett (cross checking), 13:13.
Second Period—2, Everett, Fowlie 1 (Stanfield, Yadlowski), 6:27. 3, Chilliwack, Forsyth 1 (Crooks), 12:06. Penalties—Zgraggen, Chilliwack (delay of game), 2:57; Magee, Chilliwack (hooking), 7:49; Einhorn, Chilliwack (holding), 12:39; Traber, Chilliwack (checking from behind), 15:40.
Third Period—4, Everett, Ferraro 4 (Tochkin, Suer), 3:34. 5, Chilliwack, Manning 3 (McKinley, Magee), 10:33. 6, Everett, Yadlowski 2 (MacDonald, McCrea), 17:07. Penalties—Sundher, Chilliwack (tripping), 19:09.
Overtime—7, Chilliwack, Howse 10 (Sundher), 1:22. Penalties—none.
Shots on goal—Chilliwack 12-4-9-1—26. Everett 10-19-16-0—45. Power-play opportunities—Chilliwack 1 of 3. Everett 0 of 6.
Goalies—Chilliwack, Gore 3-2-0-0 (45 shots, 42 saves). Everett, Simpson 4-1-1-1 (26 shots, 22 saves).
A—4,313.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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