Vets lead Silvertips to 5-1 win over Spokane

EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips unleashed their veterans Saturday night. As a result, Everett now can put a notch in the win column.

Everett’s returning players were clinical as the Tips defeated the Spokane Chiefs 5-1 on the second day of the Holiday Inn Preseason Classic at Comcast Arena.

Returners Josh Winquist, Manraj Hayer, Reid Petryk and Trent Lofthouse all scored goals as Everett earned its first victory of the preseason.

“It feels great,” said Lofthouse, who was one of just two veterans to dress in each of Everett’s first two preseason games, along with Winquist. “We’ve been battling really hard and it’s just good to come up with the W on that one.”

When Everett opened the preseason Friday against Tri-City, it iced a rookie-laden lineup as many of the veterans sat out, and the Tips fell 4-1. Eight of those veterans who sat out Friday entered the lineup Saturday, and it showed against a young and inexperienced Chiefs team that was playing its first game of the preseason.

“If you look at our lineup it was a little bit of an older group, and I know they had a lot of real good players out,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said. “We’re just trying to concentrate on what we need to do to be successful, and the effort was a little bit better.”

Stathis Soumelidis also scored for Everett (1-1), which saw all four of its lines find the scoresheet.

The Tips also received solid efforts from both its goaltenders. Returning goalie Austin Lotz, another of those veterans who sat out Friday, stopped all 12 shots he faced to pick up the win. Andy Desautels stopped 14 of 15 in relief.

Everett concludes the tournament tonight against Portland.

Nakeh Lamothe scored the lone goal for Spokane (0-1), which dressed just seven returning players. Garret Hughson took the brunt of the assault in goal for Spokane, allowing four goals on 12 shots. Trevor Martin played well in relief, turning away 12 of 13.

Everett was outplayed by Tri-City in its opener, and afterwards Ferner called out his veterans. On Saturday the veterans produced.

“It was just sticking to the systems and playing it simple,” Lofthouse said about the difference between Friday and Saturday. “I think the team did really well at playing it simple and getting pucks behind the D. We just built off that and got some momentum.”

With more veterans at their disposal, the Tips came out of the gate stronger Saturday, and they turned that into a 2-0 lead. Soumelidis broke the ice at 8 minutes, 40 seconds when he latched onto a loose puck off the sideboards, spun and fired a shot into the top corner. Everett made it 2-0 just 1:15 later on a smooth passing move in transition, with nice feeds from Cody Fowlie and Ty Mappin setting up Winquist.

The Tips broke the game open in the second period. Hayer made it 3-0 3:48 into the period, putting in a rebound at the far post after Griffin Foulk’s deflected shot from the point bounced over Hughson. Everett made it 4-0 at 6:24. Evan Morden’s pass though the slot eluded Luke Gordon in the middle, but it continued through to a wide-open Petryk at the far post for the redirect.

Spokane spoiled the shutout bid 2:28 into the third. Riley Whittingham, on the rush, drew both defensemen. When the puck squirted free it went to Lamothe with an open lane, and he put it in the top corner to make it 4-1.

But Everett responded with several quality scoring chances, and the Tips found the net again at 8:46 when Lofthouse tipped in Morden’s one-timer from the left point.

Earlier game

Fifteen-year-old defenseman Keoni Texeira scored two goals, leading the Portland Winterhawks to a 4-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. Dominic Turgeon and Jason Trott also scored for Portland (2-0), while goaltenders Jarrod Schamerhorn and Brendan Jensen combined to stop 31 of 32 shots. Tyson Dallman scored the lone goal for Tri-City (1-1), while netminders Luke Lee-Knight and Brenden Fiebelkorn combined to save 20 of 24.

Silvertips 5, Chiefs 1

Spokane 0 0 1 — 1

Everett 2 2 1 — 5

First Period—1, Everett, Soumelidis 1, 8:40. 2, Everett, Winquist 1 (Mappin, Fowlie), 9:55. Penalties—Potskin, Everett (interference), 2:37; Helewka, Spokane (slashing), 5:22; Fram, Spokane (holding), 12:22; Soumelidis, Everett (interference), 19:51.

Second Period—3, Everett, Hayer 1 (Lofthouse, Foulk), 3:48. 4, Everett, Petryk 1 (Gordon, Morden), 6:24. Penalties—Barnett, Everett (elbowing), 8:22; Proft, Spokane (roughing), 16:33; Petryk, Everett (hooking), 19:39.

Third Period—5, Spokane, Lamothe 1 (Whittingham, Helewka), 2:28. 6, Everett, Lofthouse 1 (Morden), 8:46. Penalties—King, Spokane (roughing), 4:05; Bechtold, Spokane (roughing), 4:05; Soumelidis, Everett (roughing), 4:05; Barnett, Everett (hooking), 6:26; Lamothe, Spokane (roughing), 6:45; Hand, Everett (roughing), 6:45; Bechtold, Spokane (roughing), 19:20; Foulk, Everett (cross checking-roughing), 19:20.

Shots on goal—Spokane 5-11-11—27. Everett 7-9-9—25. Power-play opportunities—Spokane 0 of 6. Everett 0 of 4.

Goalies—Spokane, Hughson 0-1 (12 shots, 8 saves), Martin (13 shots, 12 saves). Everett, Lotz 1-0 (12 shots, 12 saves), Desautels (15 shots, 14 saves).

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.