Silvertips’ winless streak reaches 7 with 6-5 loss to Portland

Published 1:30 am Friday, February 3, 2017

EVERETT — Friday night featured a late start, a handful of skirmishes and the most goals Xfinity Arena has seen this season.

In other words, just another chapter in the rivalry between the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips. On Friday, the Winterhawks won a wild contest 6-5 before 4,432 fans.

The game didn’t start until 8 p.m. after the Winterhawks bus was delayed due to an accident on I-5. Portland (28-21-1-2, 59 points) has now won six straight. The Silvertips (30-11-8-2, 70 point), whose lead in the U.S. Division shrunk to four points with Seattle’s shootout win over Kamloops, are now winless in their last seven contests.

Trailing 6-4 after two periods, the Tips drew back within one at 13:15 when Dominic Zwerger tapped in a feed from Patrick Bajkov.

Bajkov nearly drew even on a two-on-one with Zwerger with 2:19 to play, but Cole Kehler stoned Bajkov’s attempt.

That turned out to be Everett’s best attempt as the Tips were unable to score the equalizer.

It turned out a wide-open first period that finished in a 2-2 tie was a harbinger for a wild second stanza. It took Portland just 30 seconds to regain the lead as Cody Glass poked the puck past Everett goalie Carter Hart in a scrum in front of the net. Everett drew even again on a delayed penalty at 3:17 when Devon Skoleski redirected Aaron Irving’s tough-angle shot past Kehler.

Hart came off for the extra skater prior to Skoleski’s goal, and Mario Petit replaced Hart in net prior to the subsequent faceoff.

The Winterhawks then regained the lead when Glass fed Ryan Hughes across the slot at the back post on the power play at 5:54, and Portland pushed the advantage to 5-3 at 8:37 when Glass found Skyler McKenzie in the slot from behind the net.

Everett cut the deficit back to one when Sean Richards buried a rebound of Eetu Tuulola’s breakaway shot at 14:54, but Joachim Blichfeld responded with a tap-in from McKenzie off the rush with just three seconds to play in the second as the Winterhawks took a 6-4 lead into the final period.

Portland opened the scoring early Friday. Brad Ginnell got behind the Everett defense for a one-on-one with Hart and beat the Tips netminder for the 1-0 lead at 1:14 in the first.

The Tips responded when they snapped an 0-for-22 power-play drought at 3:48 in the first period as Tuulola’s shot from the right circle bounced off Kehler to Bryce Kindopp, who put the rebound between Kehler’s legs to tie the game 1-1. Everett then took the lead at 5:21 in the first when Tuulola deflected Irving’s shot to Riley Sutter who potted the rebound.

The Winterhawks answered on the power play at 17:51 in the first when Colton Veloso screened Hart for McKenzie’s shot from the right circle.

Winterhawks 6, Silvertips 5

Portland 2 4 0 — 6

Everett 2 2 1 — 5

1st Period—1, Portland, Ginnell 5 (Colina, Veloso), 1:14. 2, Everett, Kindopp 7 (Tuulola, Irving), 3:48 (PP). 3, Everett, Sutter 15 (Irving, Tuulola), 5:21. 4, Portland, McKenzie 33 (Jones, Glass), 17:51 (PP). Penalties—McKenzie Por (tripping), 2:34; Zwerger Evt (holding), 7:20; MacEachern Por (roughing), 17:03; Sharp Por (roughing), 17:03; Bajkov Evt (checking from behind), 17:03; Christiansen Evt (roughing), 17:03; Zwerger Evt (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 17:03; De Jong Por (holding), 18:17.

2nd Period—5, Portland, Glass 24 (Texeira, McKenzie), 0:30. 6, Everett, Skoleski 10 (Irving, Davis), 3:17 (PP). 7, Portland, Hughes 23 (Jones, Glass), 5:54 (PP). 8, Portland, McKenzie 34 (Glass, Weinger), 8:37. 9, Everett, Richards 6 (Tuulola, Irving), 14:54. 10, Portland, Blichfeld 18 (McKenzie), 19:57. Penalties—Onyebuchi Evt (tripping), 4:30; Overhardt Por (charging, roughing), 9:10; Richards Evt (elbowing, roughing), 9:10; Sharp Por (boarding, major-fighting), 11:24; Centazzo Evt (unsportsmanlike cnd., major-fighting), 11:24; Veloso Por (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 12:41; Tuulola Evt (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 12:41.

3rd Period—11, Everett, Zwerger 22 (Bajkov, Davis), 13:15. Penalties—Hughes Por (elbowing), 1:12.

Shots on Goal—Portland 7-13-8-28. Everett 13-12-14-39.

Power Play Opportunities—Portland 2 / 3; Everett 2 / 3.

Goalies—Portland, Kehler 20-14-0-2 (39 shots-34 saves). Everett, Hart 19-7-6-1 (10 shots-7 saves); Petit 10-4-2-1 (18 shots-15 saves).

A—4,432