Everett 3, Spokane 2
Published 11:06 pm Friday, October 31, 2008
TALKING POINTS
The Tips must be carrying 50 players this season. There’s the 25 who travel for the road games, then a completely different 25 who play at home. That has to be the only explanation for why Everett is such a different team at home versus on the road — 7-1-0-0 with a plus-11 goal differential at home, 1-5-1-0 with a minus-16 goal differential on the road.
How else do you explain tonight? The Tips were absolutely destroyed the two times they played in Spokane, losing by a combined score of 10-1 and getting outshot 97-50 by the defending Memorial Cup champions. But Everett was the better team tonight and deserving of the victory.
And how about Graham Potuer? For four years I’m not sure the stay-at-home defenseman ever even crossed the blue line into the offensive zone. But his two set-ups tonight — a great play after a length-of-the-ice rush to set up Kyle Beach’s goal, then a perfect 120-foot pass to release Zack Dailey for a breakaway goal — looked like something from Bobby Orr.
Kent Simpson had a solid game in goal for the Tips with 23 saves. The bigger news there is that the 16-year-old rookie will start again tomorrow against Edmonton, ahead of veteran Shayne Barrie. Everett coach John Becanic said he’d stick with the hot hand, and we’ll see how long that lasts.
One last thing. I wanted to give props to Mike Alexander for his mad dash that prevented Beach from scoring for both teams, as Beach’s wayward pass during a delayed penalty was just cleared off the line by a diving Alexander.
TURNING POINT
The big turn was made by the bus. The fact that Everett didn’t have to ride one and Spokane did completely changed the matchup from previous encounters in Spokane.
HIT OF THE DAY
Midway through the third period Everett’s Taylor Ellington laid out Blake Gal with a full-speed shoulder charge that sent Gal flying.
THREE STARS
First star: Simpson. Solid, but I’m not sure he had to do anything spectacular tonight as his defense played well.
Second star: Potuer. Where has this offensive Graham Potuer been hiding? Good in his own end, too.
Third star: Dustin Tokarski, Spokane. The Chiefs goaltender was outstanding tonight and kept Spokane in it during the first two periods.
The Herald’s honorable mention: The rest of Everett’s defense. The old guys were strong and the young guys were solid. By far the best defensive performance turned in by the Tips at home so far this season.
LINEUP NOTES
Everett had Beach back in the lineup. He sat out Tuesday’s 7-6 shootout victory over Tri-City because of back spasms. Defenseman Shayne Brown remains sidelined because of a hip flexor injury. Forwards Markus McCrea and Cameron Abney were healthy scratches, while newly-acquired forward Dale Hunt has yet to arrive.
Spokane was without two key players as center Justin McCrae (knee) and defenseman Jared Spurgeon (ankle) are out injured. Defenseman Cory Baldwin was a healthy scratch.
