Game 2: Spokane 4, Everett 1
Published 10:43 pm Saturday, March 22, 2008
TALKING POINTS
Well, the Tips never really had a chance tonight. Spokane came out flying from the start, and Everett wasn’t at its sharpest. But even if the Tips had played well it would have been difficult to overcome a Chiefs team firing on all cylinders as it did tonight.
Spokane’s defense was particularly effective tonight. The Chiefs smothered the Everett attack and the Tips were never able to generate much in the way of offense. Everett coach John Becanic even tried shuffling lines in the third period, rotating the centers through the lineup (Zach Hamill with Kyle Beach and Shane Harper; Zack Dailey with Dan Gendur and Clayton Bauer; Vitaly Karamnov with Matt Ius and Lukas Vartovnik), but that didn’t change Everett’s fortunes.
Spokane now leads the best-of-seven series 2-0 and it’s desperation time for the Tips. Yes, a seven-game series is never really thrown off course until someone wins on the road, and the Tips have the fortune of coming home for three straight (potentially). But should Everett falter in Game 3, the Tips will be dangerously close to going out of the playoffs with four consecutive losses for the fifth straight year.
