Cowbells toll for Tips, but offense silent

Published 11:59 pm Friday, November 30, 2007

EVERETT — It was Cowbell Night at Comcast Arena on Friday night. But the Everett Silvertips sure didn’t give the fans much reason to ring them.

With the house packed and the crowd ready to erupt, the Silvertips laid an egg, creating next to nothing offensively in a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

With leading scorer Kyle Beach scratched for internal disciplinary reasons, Everett managed a season-low 12 shots on goal, and rarely did the Tips present much of a threat on the Seattle goal.

Everett coach John Becanic described the game as “ugly.”

“Ugly for both teams I’m sure, at least on our side it was ugly,” he said. “Not a whole lot of scoring chances. All kinds of penalties, but both teams didn’t seem to generate much on the power play. Pucks were bouncing a lot tonight, I’m not sure if the ice was bad, but it didn’t seem like a whole lot of skill out there tonight.”

An ugly game deserved an ugly game-winning goal, and Seattle’s Scott Jackson obliged early in the third period when his shot from the top of the left circle slipped under Everett goaltender Shayne Barrie’s arm and into the net.

“This is definitely an atmospheric building and they always come out hard, so it’s nice to beat them,” said Jackson, back in the lineup after missing 13 games with a sprained ankle. “Especially on Cowbell Night and against our rivals.”

The atmosphere may have been charged, but the sellout crowd — handed 1,000 cowbells before the game — was given no opportunity for release. Neither team looked sharp, and Seattle managed just 18 shots on net itself.

Greg Scott scored Seattle’s other goal — another ugly one — and Riku Helenius made 11 saves for Seattle (11-9-4-1), which completed a home-and-home sweep of Everett over the course of six days.

Clayton Bauer scored and Barrie made 16 saves in net for Everett (14-13-0-2), which lost its fourth straight.

Beach wasn’t the only player Everett was missing. No. 1 goaltender Leland Irving was also unavailable, having participated in the Canada-Russia Challenge the night before in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Irving dressed, but was given the night off. One would have expected Irving to make the save on Jackson’s shot.

“Hey, they all count,” Becanic said. “They shot the puck and it went in, we didn’t shoot the puck. In a game like that where it’s ugly and not a lot of offense, Jackson just shot from a bad area and it went in. We didn’t do that enough.”

Everett also had more trouble with unnecessary penalties. The Tips took another penalty for too many men on the ice, a problem that plagued the team two weeks ago. And three times Everett players put the puck over the glass from their own zone, resulting in delay-of-game penalties.

Fortunately for the Tips, Seattle’s power play was unable to take advantage. The T-birds created little — including on two five-on-threes — and they ended several of those power plays with penalties of their own.

Everett finally showed some life toward the end. Jonathan Harty had a shot that slipped under Helenius, but hit the far post and rebounded back out. Then Helenius made two good saves on shots Zach Hamill in the slot during a late power play.

Everett struck first on the power play 5:41 into the game. Shane Harper skated onto a sliding puck in the Seattle zone, circled around a defender and in front of the goal, and although he was unable to get a shot away, Bauer was there to poke it into the net, making it 1-0.

Seattle tied it up at 9:24. The T-birds came away with the puck from along the boards and it squirted free in the slot where Scott flipped it out front. The puck deflected off an Everett skate and past Barrie, tying it at 1-1.

Everett got nothing going during the second period, in part because of penalties. The Tips handed Seattle a pair of five-on-three advantages, but the T-birds couldn’t capitalize and the score remained 1-1 into the third. Everett had just six shots on goal through two periods.

Slap shots: In addition to Beach, Everett also scratched center Vitali Karamnov. Karamnov, like Irving, was given the night off after playing in the Canda-Russia Challenge on Thursday. … Tips right wing Matt Ius came out of the game after taking a hit during the first period and did not return. … In addition to Jackson, Seattle welcomed right wing Josh Schappert back to the lineup after a lengthy absence with a back injury. … With Jackson’s return, Seattle released defenseman Todd Panchyson, a recent acquisition from Portland.

Thunderbirds 2, Silvertips 1

@5. NHLtop:Seattle101—2

@5. NHLbottom:Everett100—1

@5. NHL box :First Period—1, Everett, Bauer 7 (Harper, Harty), 5:41 (pp). 2, Seattle, Scott 8, 9:24. Penalties—Mistelbacher, Everett (delay of game), 2:56; McKenzie, Seattle (high sticking), 4:35; Ellington, Everett (hooking), 11:24; O’Brien, Seattle (hooking), 11:55; Acolatse, Seattle (roughing), 14:55; Potuer, Everett (charging), 17:22; Scott, Seattle (tripping), 17:50.

Second Period—No goals. Penalties—Hamill, Everett (cross checking) 5:32; Crowley, Everett (delay of game), 7:05; Richard, Seattle (checking from behind), 9:51; Everett bench (too many men, served by Mistelbacher), 13:08; Potuer, Everett (cross checking), 14:33; Richard, Seattle (roughing), 20:00; Dailey, Everett (roughing), 20:00.

Third Period—3, Seattle, Jackson 2 (Eberle, Rai), 4:51. Penalties—Alexander, Everett (delay of game), 9:20; O’Brien, Seattle (high sticking), 10:47; Olson, Seattle (slashing), 16:00; Jackson, Seattle (high sticking), 17:30.

Shots on goal—Seattle 5-6-7—18. Everett 4-2-6—12. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 0 of 8. Everett 1 of 8.

Goalies—Seattle, Helenius 6-7-4-0 (12 shots, 11 saves). Everett, Barrie 3-3-0-0 (18 shots, 16 saves).

A—8,428.

Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog