Slow start dooms Tips

Published 9:00 pm Monday, March 26, 2007

It doesn’t matter how good a team is, a 3-0 deficit is hard to overcome. The Tips rallied well to pull within one, but giving up three goals on the first five shots is not a winning formula. You can’t blame goaltender Leland Irving completely for that, even though he had to suffer the hook — a bad bounce led to the first goal and he didn’t get much help from his defense on the other two.

Some thoughts:

– I have no idea whether Brennan’s Sonne’s waived-off goal at the end of the first period should have counted. The Everett camp did, the officials disagreed. But I suspect the game would have unfolded differently had it been given.

– Moises Gutierrez continues to play well for Everett. He’s really using his big frame to good effect, holding off Spokane’s defensemen. Dane Crowley also played a good game for the Tips, doing a good job carrying the puck up ice and jumping into the play effectively.

– I thought Spokane did a good job keeping the Tips to the perimeter. Other than the goals, Everett didn’t have many quality scoring chances in close.