By Nick Patterson Herald Writer
EVERETT — The last time the Everett Silvertips took the ice at Comcast Arena they suffered a thrashing of epic proportions, eliciting boos from the home crowd at the game’s end.
So Friday night, the Tips earned a measure of vindication, doing a complete about-face and receiving a standing ovation once the final horn sounded. A completely different team took the ice Friday and kept the Silvertips in control throughout a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants.
Joshua Winquist scored twice and Daniel Cotton recorded his first career shutout to lead Everett, which was much improved from last Sunday’s 8-2 outclassing by the Kelowna Rockets. Granted, Friday’s competition wasn’t as stiff as last Sunday — Kelowna is in third place in the Western Conference while the Giants are dead last. But the Tips came out with jump from the start and carried it through most of Friday’s contest.
“We were better,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said. “That’s something I talked to them about, just focusing on our work ethic and being more aggressive on pucks.”
Carson Stadnyk also scored and Reid Petryk added a late empty netter for Everett (11-17-0-2), which has gotten fat on the Giants this season. The Tips are 3-0 against Vancouver but have a losing record against every other team in the Western Conference.
Cotton didn’t have to work too hard to earn his shutout, finishing with 19 saves.
Payton Lee made 22 saves in goal for Vancouver (7-19-0-0), which dropped its sixth straight game.
Everett had the better of the scoring chances in the first period, but the Tips were unable to convert and it remained scoreless into the second. But in the second those chances turned into goals with Everett scoring three times, including both of Winquist’s tallies, to take control.
“As long as you’re getting the opportunities, that’s the most important thing, along with realizing how we got those opportunities,” Ferner said. “We just asked our kids to go and play for 60 minutes. The first two periods were pretty good. Sometimes the tendency with our hockey team is to kind of let the foot off the gas. But they stuck with it today and had a lot better effort.”
The Tips also received a much-improved performance from its defense. Everett’s defensemen were run ragged by the Rockets, but they were far more composed Friday and were a big part of limiting Vancouver’s shots on goal.
“Some of the credit had to go to our forwards as well, making sure they were coming back and helping,” Ferner said. “But the D played hard, they were physical and they were moving the puck. When you don’t spend as much time in your own end, it obviously makes it easier on you.”
In the scoreless first period, the Tips built momentum off a power play that included about a dozen one-timers. Manraj Hayer split the defense only to have his attempt denied by Lee. Then Winquist had a shot straight from the faceoff hit the post, and although the Tips put the puck in the net during the ensuing scrum, a quick whistle negated the score.
The Tips continued to get the chances in the second, and this time they scored. Stadnyk finally found the breakthrough 2 minutes, 49 seconds in. He put home a cross-slot feed from Ty Mappin following a faceoff to send Everett on its way.
The Tips continued to control play, and they added to their lead thanks to a pair of goals from Winquist. He made it 2-0 at 11:29 when his snap shot in front from a Tyler Sandhu feed rattled off Lee’s equipment and in. Winquist made it 3-0 on the power play at 18:48.
The only question during the third period was whether Everett could hold onto its shutout. But the Tips successfully salted the game away, and Petryk added the icing by scoring into the empty net with 4.9 seconds remaining.
Slap shots
Because of injuries, Everett continues to play without captain Ryan Murray (shoulder) and alternate captain Ryan Harrison (knee). With those two unavailable, Petryk and defenseman Nick Walters are serving as alternate captains along with Hayer. … Vancouver continues to be without its top offensive threat, winger Marek Tvrdon. Tvrdon was declared out for the season because of a blood-clot issue.
Silvertips 4, Giants 0
Vancouver000—0
Everett031—4
First Period—no goals. Penalties—Low, Everett (interference), 8:01; Orban, Vancouver (hooking), 10:25; Ast, Vancouver (interference), 13:34.
Second Period—1, Everett, Stadnyk 5 (Mappin), 2:49. 2, Everett, Winquist 10 (Sandhu, Hayer), 11:29. 3, Everett, Winquist 11 (Bauml, Hayer), 18:48 (pp). Penalties—Cooke, Vancouver (roughing), 7:21; Low, Everett (tripping), 12:50; Geertsen, Vancouver (interference), 17:32.
Third Period—4, Everett, Petryk 9 (Leedahl), 19:55 (en). Penalties—Vannieuwenhuizen, Vancouver (interference), 0:27; Kessy, Vancouver (fighting), 0:27; Walters, Everett (instigator-fighting-10-minute misconduct), 0:27; Grayson, Everett (slashing), 16:50.
Shots on goal—Vancouver 6-6-7—19. Everett 11-8-7—26. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 0 of 3. Everett 1 of 4.
Goalies—Vancouver, Lee 4-7-0-0 (25 shots, 22 saves). Everett, Cotton 8-6-0-0 (19 shots, 19 saves).
A—4,432.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
