Americans top Silvertips to even series 1-1

EVERETT — If the Everett Silvertips plan to reach the WHL finals for the second time in franchise history, they are going to have to be far more consistent.

For the second consecutive night the Tips took a lead into the first intermission, only to be outplayed in the second.

But on Saturday the Tips were unable to fully recover and dropped a 5-3 decision to the visiting Tri-City Americans in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals 6,401 fans at Angel of the Winds Arena.

“We sat back on our heels and I just didn’t think we had enough guys working,” Everett head coach Dennis Williams said. “We had some guys just getting a free ride out there on our team, and it’s unacceptable this time of year.”

With the victory the Americans tied the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. The series now shifts to Tri-City for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday.

Everett split its first two home games in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. Both times they won three straight to close out the series.

“It’s not the position we want to be in, but we’ve been here before so we just gotta do some video and refocus for Game 3,” Everett defenseman Kevin Davis said.

Tri-City’s Parker AuCoin scored twice and three different Americans players had a pair of assists.

Maxwell James tallied the game-winner a 3-3 at 12:29 in the third period when he wove through Everett’s defense and stashed a backhanded attempt past Carter Hart’s left pad to make it 4-3.

Michael Rasmussen clinched the game with an empty-netter with 22 seconds to play.

“(Consistency) is like a light switch — you can’t keep turning it on and off,” Williams said. “They’re too good of a hockey team and we didn’t play enough desperate hockey for 60 minutes.”

The Americans previously took their first lead of the series at 10:19 when AuCoin collected a rebound off the end boards at the left post and buried it into the wide-open net.

That 3-2 advantage was short-lived. Garrett Pilon tied the game 1:06 later when he roofed a wrister over Patrick Dea’s left shoulder from the slot off the rush to make it 3-3.

But James struck for the game-winner on the ensuing shift.

“They have a lot of guys that can make you look silly and capitalize on the chances you give them,” Everett forward Matt Fonteyne said. “They have a really strong top two lines, but their other two lines are just as tough to play against.”

Everett took a 2-1 lead and a 20-9 shot advantage into the second period. But Jordan Topping drew the Americans even when he buried a feed from Isaac Johnson off the rush at 12:02 to make it 2-2.

The Tips nearly regained the lead 51 seconds later, but a stellar kick save by Dea on a Gianni Fairbrother shot kept the game tied. Tri-City outshot Everett 13-8 in the second stanza as the Americans controlled the pace of play.

“As you get deeper into the playoffs you can’t have those mental lapses,” Fonteyne said. “Both games we haven’t played a full 60 minutes. They’ve come out in the second and been more ready than us and kind of taken over the game. So I think moving forward we just need to focus on one shift at a time. If we go out there and don’t have a great shift we can’t let it linger. We just have to get on top of our details again and get back on the train.”

The Silvertips took the game’s first lead via power play at 7:34 in the opening period. Fonteyne used his chest to deflect in a rebound off a Connor Dewar shot for the 1-0 advantage.

Tri-City drew even at 12:29 when Juuso Valimaki worked his way into the slot and fed AuCoin who roofed it over Hart at the left post to make it 1-1.

But Everett took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play at 14:37 when Patrick Bajkov walked in from the left circle and his shot deflected off of Valimaki and past Dea for a 2-1 lead.

Everett’s special teams success offered a bit of a silver lining. The Tips were 2-for-4 on the man advantage while holding Tri-City’s potent power play scoreless in three chances.

Dea finished with 37 saves to earn the win. Hart saved 22 of 26 for his third loss of the postseason.

For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.

Americans 5, Silvertips 3

Tri-City 1 1 3 — 5

Everett 2 0 1 — 3

1st Period—1, Everett, Fonteyne 5 (Dewar, Davis), 7:34 (PP). 2, Tri-City, AuCoin 2 (Välimäki, Johnson), 12:29. 3, Everett, Bajkov 8 (Davis, Pilon), 14:37 (PP). Penalties—Rasmussen Tc (high sticking), 6:02; Richards Evt (holding), 8:53; Topping Tc (boarding), 13:04; Yaremko Tc (delay of game), 13:47; Vala Evt (interference), 14:49.

2nd Period—4, Tri-City, Topping 3 (Johnson), 12:02. Penalties—Sutter Evt (slashing), 3:50.

3rd Period—5, Tri-City, AuCoin 3 (Välimäki, Gatenby), 10:19. 6, Everett, Pilon 9 (Fonteyne), 11:25. 7, Tri-City, James 1 (AuCoin, Coghlan), 12:29. 8, Tri-City, Rasmussen 12 (Coghlan), 19:38 (EN). Penalties—Yaremko Tc (roughing), 1:57; Bajkov Evt (10-minute misconduct), 19:38.

Shots on Goal—Tri-City 9-13-5-27. Everett 20-8-12-40.

Power Play Opportunities—Tri-City 0 / 3; Everett 2 / 4.

Goalies—Tri-City, Dea (40 shots-37 saves). Everett, Hart (26 shots-22 saves).

A—6,401