Silvertips fall to basement-dwelling Spokane 4-1

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 1, 2017

EVERETT — The Spokane Chiefs are a young squad that currently occupies the basement of the U.S. Division.

Yet, the Chiefs kept their faint playoff hopes alive Wednesday as they defeated the Everett Silvertips 4-1 before 3,519 fans at Xfinity Arena.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Chiefs (26-27-6-3, 61 points) who have had some success against Everett this season, having now won four of seven.

“They’ve got one of the best players in the league in (Kailer) Yamamoto and they’re a good hockey team,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “When they get good goaltending they’re as good as anybody in our division.”

Meanwhile, the Tips (38-14-8-2, 86 points) lost their second straight. They entered the night atop the U.S. Division and the Western Conference, but Seattle’s overtime loss Wednesday at Kamloops moved the Thunderbirds into a tie for the top spot.

Yamamoto and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Spokane’s pair of highly touted 2017 NHL draft prospects, did most of the damage. They each scored a goal and combined for four assists.

“We know they’re one of the best teams and it’s always fun to play the best team and I think it brings out a lot in us,” Yamamoto said. “(Coach) Don (Nachbaur) is always preaching ‘block shots and get in lanes.’ So, I think (the Tips) are one of the best at it, so every time we play them we try to take a page out of their book.”

The Tips entered the final period facing a 2-0 deficit. After they killed off the 13 seconds that remained on a second-period penalty, the excitement really started.

Tips assistant coach Mitch Love was assessed a two-minute bench minor penalty and a game misconduct and was ejected from the contest. Love continued to state his piece and the Tips were assessed an additional two-minute penalty for delay of game, giving Spokane a 5-on-3 power play. Keanu Yamamoto immediately took advantage with a wrister from the slot 17 seconds into the two-man advantage pushing Spokane’s lead to 3-0.

“It was massive for us coming out and getting a good quick goal right off the drop,” said Kailer Yamamoto, who assisted his older brother on the goal. “We’ve been struggling the last few games in the third period, but I think coming out and getting that third period goal was huge for us.”

But Everett wasn’t dead. The Tips earned back-to-back 5-on-3 power plays and Riley Sutter finally converted with a one-timer outside the left post at 13:35 in the third to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Then Kailer Yamamoto struck again to seal the game with Everett’s net empty. While pressuring Noah Juulsen both players slipped and Yamamoto recovered the puck. He found Riley Woods trailing on the play and Woods converted from the slot to make it 4-1 at 17:34.

“If you’re down more than one goal and you haven’t generated a lot during the game, you’ve gotta do what you can do to generate scoring chances,” said Constantine, who pulled Hart with 3:59 remaining in the game. “I thought they played better than us in the first half of the game.

“We got going, but we got going a little too late.”

The Chiefs started strong and tallied the game’s first six shots. Spokane capitalized on the power play when Kailer Yamamoto worked the puck down low to Hudson Elynuik who found Anderson-Dolan at the right post. Anderson-Dolan backhanded the puck past Carter Hart for the 1-0 lead at 11:07 in the first period.

Spokane held a 14-7 shot advantage in the opening frame and a 26-11 advantage after 40 minutes. That flipped dramatically in the final period as Everett recorded 22 shots and the teams ended up tied at 33-33 by game’s end.

“I’d say we only worked for one period in that game and whenever that happens that’s the results you’re going to have,” Everett forward Matt Fonteyne said. “I think just being ready to play at the start of the game – we just have to be simple right off the bat. We can’t force turnovers or take any bad penalties.”

Spokane’s second goal at 17:25 came thanks to impressive stick work. Kailer Yamamoto curled around the right circle with the puck before feeding Anderson-Dolan on the goal line. Anderson-Dolan gave it right back to Yamamoto who beat Hart to push the advantage to 2-0.

“I think any team in this league is tough to play against,” Fonteyne said. “They work really hard and they block shots and play their systems pretty well. Whenever you play a team like that you have to match their intensity.”

The Silvertips return home Friday when they play host to the Kelowna Rockets at 7:35 p.m.

Chiefs 4, Silvertips 1

Spokane 1 1 2 — 4

Everett 0 0 1— 1

1st Period—1, Spokane, Anderson-Dolan 34 (Elynuik, Yamamoto), 11:17 (PP). Penalties—Richards Evt (roughing), 10:30; Wylie Evt (roughing), 14:44.

2nd Period—2, Spokane, Yamamoto 36 (Anderson-Dolan, Elynuik), 17:25. Penalties—Yamamoto Spo (tripping), 5:00; Bajkov Evt (slashing), 11:25; Richards Evt (boarding), 18:13.

3rd Period—3, Spokane, Yamamoto 24 (Yamamoto, Smith), 1:13 (PP). 4, Everett, Sutter 17 (Fonteyne, Davis), 13:35 (PP). 5, Spokane, Woods 11 (Yamamoto), 17:34 (EN). Penalties—Evt (bench – coach), 0:56; Babych Evt (game – coach), 0:56; Richards Evt (delay of game), 0:56; Najman Spo (holding), 11:03; Elynuik Spo (high sticking), 12:21; Helgesen Spo (high sticking), 13:09; Kousal Spo (tripping), 18:51.

Shots on Goal—Spokane 14-12-7-33. Everett 7-4-22-33.

Power Play Opportunities—Spokane 2 / 6; Everett 1 / 5.

Goalies—Spokane, Sittler 15-12-2-1 (33 shots-32 saves). Everett, Hart 27-9-6-1 (32 shots-29 saves).

A—3,519

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