By Jesse Geleynse
Herald Writer
EVERETT — It hasn’t been eons since the Everett Silvertips have played at Xfinity Arena, but you’d be forgiven for making that hyperbolic assumption.
The Tips (4-7-0, eight points) haven’t played at home since Sept. 24 when they handed the Tri-City Americans a 4-1 defeat. Those same Americans are back at 7:05 p.m. today at Xfinity Arena following a nine-game Everett road trip that ended Saturday in Cranbrook, British Columbia.
The good news is that the nine-game road trip represents a full quarter of Everett’s visiting schedule and is now firmly in the rear-view mirror. The bad news is that the Tips were just 3-6 in that stretch, including a 2-4 mark on their biennial Central Division swing.
“We didn’t get the results we wanted,” Everett coach Dennis Williams said. “I thought we did a lot of nice things out there, but we found some areas we need to improve on and clean up. It didn’t go our way, but as I said to the guys, there are two ways to go about it: we can sit here and feel sorry for ourselves or we can button up our chinstraps and play harder.”
Everett endured a three-game stretch in which it scored a single goal in each game. When that stretch is excluded the Tips are averaging 3.75 goals per contest. Everett’s season-low for shots in a game is 23, but the Tips consistently fire 30 or more on net during the course of the game.
“We had some great opportunities to score a lot of goals, (but) we gotta capitalize on that,” Williams said. “Our chances for, versus chances against, have been pretty good, but that’s what happens. If you don’t score on those odd-man rushes or opportunities, you’re giving up one the other way. That’s the risk-reward of playing a north-south hockey game.”
The road trip was a return home for Everett’s nine Alberta natives who looking forward to the opportunity to play in their native province every other year. It was also a chance for the Tips to learn more about each other with plenty of down time mixed in with the demanding slate of games.
Everett showed its resiliency during the trip as it came from behind in close losses at Medicine Hat and Kootenay, and a comeback win at Lethbridge.
“We got to learn about the group and the character by battling back a lot in the third period,” said third-year Everett forward Connor Dewar. “Obviously we don’t want to get used to that — playing from behind — but it shows a lot of character with the young group.”
The Tips are still competing without goaltenders Carter Hart (mononucleosis) and Dustin Wolf (hip surgery), so it’s been up to Dorrin Luding between the pipes. Luding is 3-5 with a 3.40 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage. Blake Lyda, a fourth-round pick by Everett in this year’s bantam draft, has been recalled from the CAC Canadians in the Alberta Minor Midget League to serve as Luding’s backup for the time being.
Per the weekly WHL injury report, Hart is out one to three weeks and Wolf will be sidelined two to four weeks. Hart has resumed off-ice workouts, but hasn’t yet returned to practice. Wolf practiced Tuesday with the team for the first time since his surgery.
Not having the two-time defending WHL Goaltender of the Year, or his heir apparent, coupled with the season’s longest road trip, certainly has brought its challenges.
“You learn a lot about your group, and once you battle through adversity you know how to deal with it once you face it later on in the season,” said Everett co-captain Matt Fonteyne, who is second on the team in goals (six) and points (13).
“We learned a lot about ourselves, and we were working on some things throughout the trip, but I think moving forward we need to continue to focus on one thing at a time, one shift at a time.”
Despite their 5-4 record, the Americans present a formidable challenge. Widely expected to contend for the U.S. Division title, the Americans are big, physical team capable of generating plenty of offense.
Morgan Geekie leads the Tri-City offense with 12 points and Jordan Topping adds 11. First-round NHL draft pick Michael Rasmussen is back after an extended stint in training camp with the Detroit Red Wings, and has four goals and five assists in just a half-dozen games.
“We have to manage pucks smartly,” Williams said. “If they’re going to have an opportunity to score, we’ve got to make sure they come the full 200 feet. We can’t make it easy on them, so it’s going to be important to manage the blue lines, and if we do turn pucks over we have to have the discipline to scrap and get back and help out our (defense).”
Note: The WHL announced Tuesday that Hart had been named to Team WHL for the Canada-Russia Series. It’s the third straight season Hart has been on the team.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @JesseGeleynse
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