A rivalry turned up a notch

EVERETT – Ding, ding.

Let Round 3 begin.

After a pair of games last week that contained enough bad blood to satiate Count Dracula, the Everett Silvertips and Tri-City Americans throw down for the third time in eight days tonight.

The teams each won in their own building last week – Everett won 4-1 last Wednesday, Tri-City prevailed 2-0 on Friday.

But the final results were almost secondary to the ill will that festered throughout, then boiled over at the end of the second contest.

Now the question is whether tonight’s game will take the proceedings to an even uglier level, or whether the teams managed to get the animosity out of their systems.

“We have a way we want to play the game and we just go play,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “You can’t control what the other side is doing. All we can do is go out every night and try to be better. Last week was heated, but that’s last week. We’ve got to play our game.”

Everett and Tri-City have never gotten along, in large part because of Tri-City’s aggressive physical style that the Tips believe sometimes crosses the line.

But the tables turned last Wednesday when the Americans took exception to a kneeing major penalty by Brennan Sonne, and a check from behind by Kyle Beach on the Americans’ leading scorer, Colton Yellow Horn. Sonne was suspended for two games.

Then with three seconds remaining in Saturday’s ill-tempered rematch and the outcome already determined, Tri-City forwards Chris Inglis and Travis Gorman instigated fights straight from the faceoff. Inglis, Gorman and Tri-City coach Don Nachbaur all received suspensions from the incident and won’t be taking part tonight.

“They were pretty exciting games,” said Beach, who was a target of abuse and threats throughout Saturday’s game. “Obviously there was a bit of a questionable hit I had on (Colton) Yellow Horn. I was just trying to play physical and finish my hit, but it didn’t turn out that way. They obviously weren’t too happy about that going into the second game and dealt with it in the way they deal with things, I guess. But we’ll put it behind us now, try to move on and play the next one.”

It’s possible tonight’s game could get even more out of hand. Nachbaur vowed a response following last Wednesday’s game, but Sonne didn’t play because of his suspension, and Beach actually inflicted more damage on Yellow Horn on Friday during a fight that immediately preceded the game-ending brawl.

For the Tips, Saturday’s game-ending brawl was eerily reminiscent of an incident late in the 2004-05 season. At the end of that game the Americans also instigated a brawl, with then-Tri-City defenseman Clayton Stoner grabbing a 16-year-old Taylor Ellington straight off the faceoff and clocking him in the face. Ellington suffered a concussion that caused him to miss the beginning of the playoffs.

On the other hand, it’s possible the suspensions will force everyone into their best behavior. It’s likely the league will be keeping a close eye on tonight’s game.

And for their part, the Tips are playing down the enmity between the two teams.

“Emotions run high,” Sonne said. “You see that kind of stuff and you kind of cringe because you don’t want to see anybody get hurt. We’re not looking for any sort of redemption or revenge, we’re not really like that. We’re going out to get the two points and that’s all we’re really focused on.”

Slap shots: Everett has two question marks for tonight’s game. Right wing Dan Gendur didn’t practice Tuesday because of the flu. Center Zack Dailey did practice, but was limited because of the upper-body injury that knocked him out of Saturday’s 5-2 victory over Chilliwack. … Forward Jordan Mistelbacher is spending another week with the Tips. The 1990-born Mistelbacher was only expected to be with the team through last weekend. However, a combination of injuries, illness and suspension forced Mistelbacher into the lineup for two games, where he impressed. At the end of the week he’ll return to the Winnipeg Saints of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.