From goat to hero

Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 23, 2007

Well, Zach Hamill certainly saw his fortunes change in an instant. Moments after taking what could have been the game-costing penalty, he comes out of the box and scores the overtime game winner, giving the Silvertips an exciting 3-2 victory over Spokane in Game 2. Everett finds itself in good shape in the best-of-seven series, up 2-0 heading to Games 3 and 4 in Spokane on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here are some other thoughts from Game 2:

– Well, that was the first time I’ve ever seen 40 players on the ice at the same time when it wasn’t the teams shaking hands at the end of a playoff series. I’m not sure there’s any way you can excuse what Spokane’s Judd Blackwater did after the game was over, slamming Hamill into the boards while Hamill was celebrating. I suspect we might not be seeing Blackwater in Game 3 because of suspension.

– From my vantage point it looked like Kyle Beach scored for Everett early in overtime. When he went five-hole on Spokane goaltender Dustin Tokarski, I thought I saw the puck sneak just across the line between Tokarski’s legs. But then from the press area I’m about as far away from the play as possible.

– I thought many of Spokane’s players looked more comfortable than in Game 1, most notably Tokarski. Also, defenseman Jared Cowen, the first-overal pick in the 2006 bantam draft who was called up for the playoffs, looked much better.

– If Everett can continue to get scoring out of its fourth line — and the likes of Shane Harper, Lukas Vartovnik and Brandon Campos are certainly capable, even if their numbers from the regular season don’t show it — the Tips are going to be tough to beat throughout the playoffs.