Silvertips control play, beat Edmonton 3-0

Published 10:42 pm Saturday, November 1, 2014

EVERETT — Coach Kevin Constantine described the Everett Silvertips’ loss to Spokane on Oct. 22 as a wake-up call.

If that’s the case, then it’s worked better than the strongest double-shot espresso the neighborhood coffee stand can muster.

Everett turned in its fourth-consecutive quality performance as the Tips knocked off the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-0 Saturday night at Xfinity Arena.

Facing the defending Memorial Cup-champion Oil Kings, and with the Memorial Cup trophy on display in the concourse, Everett produced a solid all-around performance in which the Tips were never really threatened by the team that’s won three straight Eastern Conference titles.

“It’s pretty huge,” said Tips defenseman Cole MacDonald, who led the way with a goal and an assist. “It’s always nice to play the better teams in the league. Playing the Edmonton Oil Kings, with them winning last year, it was real fun to beat them.”

Ivan Nikolishin and Remi Laurencelle also scored, Kevin Davis had two assists, and Austin Lotz turned in a 21-save shutout for Everett (10-1-2-1). The shutout was the first of the season for Lotz and the seventh of his career.

“There’s always ups and downs in every game, but I thought we were pretty consistent,” Constantine said. “We didn’t dominate the game, but I thought we were real consistent shift after shift.”

Tristan Jarry finished with 28 saves in net for Edmonton (9-5-0-2), which lost its third straight and is a shadow of last season’s team because of player graduations.

Saturday’s game continued a positive trend for Everett that dates back to that Oct. 22 home game against Spokane. The Tips lost 5-4 — their only regulation defeat of the season — and in that game Everett was outworked by the Chiefs and outshot 38-29.

The four games since have been a completely different story. Since that loss, the Tips have outscored their opponents 12-3, never surrendering more than one goal in a contest. They also outshot the opposition 128-90.

“Our work ethic and our defensive strategies and a lot of our foundation basics, I think the Spokane game was kind of a wake-up call that we might not have been 100-percent committed to those things,” Constantine said. “So that’s been the focus over the past four games, and the guys have worked pretty hard at doing the basics, which is working hard and being in the right position on the ice.”

That was best represented by Everett’s puck possession. The Tips possessed the puck in Edmonton’s zone for large chunks of time throughout Saturday’s game. It didn’t necessarily lead to an overwhelming number of scoring chances, but it sure kept the Oil Kings from threatening Everett’s goal.

“We’ve been trying to find ways to spend a little more time in the offensive zone and take a little heat off ourselves in the defensive zone,” Constantine explained. “That’s been a theme ever since Spokane came in and kind of kicked our butt. We’ve tried to find ways to give up a little less in the way of scoring chances and shots, and we feel to do that we have to be in the offensive zone more. It’s not just fixing your own end, it’s spending more time in the offensive zone, and the guys have worked pretty hard at that.”

Everett controlled play in the first period, with Logan Aasman having several good scoring chances denied, before the Tips finally found the breakthrough at 15 minutes, 11 seconds. A home-run breakout play presented Carson Stadnyk with a shot off the rush, and although Jarry made the save, Nikolishin slipped the rebound under Jarry to give Everett a 1-0 lead.

The Tips then doubled their lead on the power play 7:05 into the second period. Davis’s one-timer from the left point was deflected by Laurencelle, with the puck looping over Jarry and into the far corner to make it 2-0.

Everett put it away 57 seconds into the third. MacDonald loaded up from the point and blasted a one-timer through traffic and past Jarry to make it a three-goal game, and the lead was never threatened.

Slap shots

Everett was not assessed a single penalty in the game. That’s the first time in the franchise’s 12-season history that’s happened. The Tips continue to be the WHL’s least-penalized team with just 103 minutes in 14 games. … Everett cycled winger Gunnar Wegleitner and defenseman Lucas Skrumeda back into the lineup in place of winger Nik Malenica and defenseman Carter Cochrane. … Edmonton welcomed winger Mads Eller back to the lineup after he missed the previous six games because of a lower-body injury. Defenseman Ben Carroll (lower body) and center Davis Koch (upper body) remained out injured.

Silvertips 3, Oil Kings 0

Edmonton 0 0 0 — 0

Everett 1 1 1 — 3

First Period—1, Everett, Nikolishin 5 (Stadnyk, Low), 15:11. Penalties—Eller, Edmonton (holding), 17:08.

Second Period—2, Everett, Laurencelle 4 (Davis, MacDonald), 7:05 (pp). Penalties—Magnes, Edmonton (roughing), 4:06; Pollock, Edmonton (kneeing), 6:45.

Third Period—3, Everett, MacDonald 5 (Scherbak, Davis), 0:57. Penalties—Mills, Edmonton (tripping), 9:52.

Shots on goal—Edmonton 7-6-8—21. Everett 13-9-9—31. Power-play opportunities—Edmonton 0 of 0. Everett 1 of 4.

Goalies—Edmonton, Jarry 7-4-0-2 (31 shots, 28 saves). Everett, Lotz 8-1-1-1 (21 shots, 21 saves).

A—5,117.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.