Silvertips aim to break 4-game losing streak

Published 1:30 am Monday, January 30, 2017

There is little rest for the Everett Silvertips, who play Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Portland following their toughest weekend of the regular season.

That’s followed by a game Wednesday in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans, and then back to Xfinity Arena Friday and Saturday for games against Portland and Vancouver.

For those counting, that’s seven games in nine days dating back to last weekend, and currently the Tips are 0-3 in that stretch. The Tips (30-9-7-2, 69 points) still lead the U.S. Division, but have seen their lead dwindle to single digits and have dropped four in a row overall.

Everett is making do without two of its top defensemen in Noah Juulsen and Lucas Skrumeda, both of whom are out with lower body injuries. Forward Riley Sutter missed all three games last weekend due to illness.

In talking with head coach Kevin Constantine, it appears that Sutter could return as early as Tuesday, but Skrumeda is likely to be out a little longer. It is also sounding as though Juulsen could miss several more weeks as he continues to recover from an injury he originally suffered at World Juniors and aggravated upon returning.

The Silvertips have continued to play veterans Kevin Davis and Aaron Irving together on the top defensive pairing while using 17-year-olds Wyatte Wylie and Jake Christiansen and 16-year-olds Ian Walker and Montana Onyebuchi on the second and third pairs.

With Sutter out the Tips brought up Dawson Butt from the 16-U Junior Silvertips AAA team to play Friday and Saturday, and recalled Cal Babych from the Coquitlam Express of the BCHL for Sunday’s game. Butt and Babych remained on Everett’s online roster Monday afternoon, so it stands to reason the Tips may keep one or both around in case Sutter isn’t ready or if other injuries or illnesses occur.

Tuesday’s game against Portland is being made up from the postponement of the Jan. 7 game that was rescheduled due to inclement weather.

The Winterhawks (25-21-1-2, 53 points) knocked off Everett 4-1 last Friday at Xfinity Arena despite the Tips putting up 47 shots. In fact, the Tips outshot their opponents 108-89 in three games during the weekend, but scored just four goals while dropping all three contests.

Part of the issue could stem from the power play, a unit that has carried Everett’s offense for most of the season. The Tips score 31.8 percent of their goals on the power play, so their 0-for-16 showing in the last four games — including an 0-for-7 performance in the loss to Portland — disproportionately affects their overall offensive output. Despite the skid, Everett is still sixth in the league on the man advantage at 23.3 percent.

Everett has also succeeded in part because it boasts the league’s best penalty kill at 87 percent. The Tips killed 33 straight penalties spanning 12 games recently before that streak ended Saturday in Kent. It proved costly as the Thunderbirds erased a 2-1 deficit with two power-play goals in the final eight minutes.

Following this four-game week the Tips go five days without a game. But that won’t be easy either, as they’ll be on a bus headed from Brandon, Manitoba, next Monday.

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