EVERETT — There was no dramatic third-period comeback against the Spokane Chiefs this time for the Everett Silvertips.
Everett tried to repeat its come-from-behind heroics against Spokane on Wednesday night, but Tips fell short, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Chiefs at Comcast Arena.
When Spokane last visited Everett on Jan. 13, the Tips scored three times in the final 10 minutes of regulation to tie it before winning in overtime.
This time Everett trailed 3-1 with less than five minutes remaining when Josh Birkholz’s goal pulled the Tips within one. Although Everett pressed for the equalizer, the Tips were unable to produce another unlikely comeback, and Steve Kuhn scored into an empty net with one second remaining to clinch it for the Chiefs.
“We had a good effort there late in the third, but we can’t keep getting down like that,” Everett captain Ryan Murray said. “That’s kind of been a habit of ours, letting the game go and trying to come back in the third. We have to have better starts and play a full 60 minutes because we’re not going to be able to come back in every single game, as it showed tonight.”
Kuhn finished with two goals and an assist to pace the Chiefs (26-14-3-3), who won their fourth straight. The previous three victories came against Western Conference frontrunners Tri-City and Portland. Todd Fiddler and Darren Kramer scored the other goals for the Chiefs, while Mac Engel earned the victory in goal with 19 saves.
Murray scored the other goal for Everett (10-30-1-8), which now faces a two-game trip to Prince George this weekend that’s crucial to the Tips’ playoff chances. Austin Lotz helped keep the Tips in Wednesday’s game, making 32 saves.
Everett was unable to get much going offensively against the Chiefs. The Tips, who had been the lowest-scoring team in the WHL, had begun scoring more goals of late. But chances were few and far between for Everett on Wednesday as the Chiefs clamped down.
“They’re a pretty tight defensive team,” Murray said. “We have to battle through that. We have to play the same way, no matter who we’re playing. We just have to be better.”
A big part of Everett’s offensive woes stemmed from the penalty discrepancy. Spokane was awarded seven power plays to Everett’s two, with the crowd roaring its disapproval on several of the calls against the Silvertips. The biggest puzzler came midway through the first period when Lotz was given a delay of game penalty for not dropping a held puck at the referee’s command.
“Seven power plays sucks the life out of you,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said. “It was 7-2 and I don’t think we really … I look at Lotz’s delay of game penalty, he’s a 16-year-old kid. My understanding is there should be a warning first. So every opportunity we were in the box, and if we run through six or eight penalty killers it sucks the life out of you and you can’t get momentum.”
The Chiefs took full advantage of those power-play opportunities, scoring each of their first two goals with the advantage. Murray had given Everett a 1-0 lead 5:16 into the game when his slap shot through traffic found the corner. But the Chiefs cashed in their first power play less than three minutes later. Brenden Kichton’s shot from the point was saved by Lotz, but Fiddler put home the rebound at 8:06 to tie it.
After Everett’s Jordyn Boyd was given a double-minor for checking from behind early in the second period, the Chiefs scored on the second of the two power plays and took the lead. When a shot off the rush caused chaos in front of the Everett goal, Kuhn was able to bundle it in to give Spokane the lead at 6:48. The Chiefs never again trailed.
“Obviously (the penalties) changed the game a little bit,” Murray said. “But that can’t be an excuse of ours. We have to be smarter and more disciplined.”
Spokane added an insurance goal 9:03 into the third period when Kramer redirected Davis Vandane’s shot from the point past Lotz to make it 3-1. It turned out to be necessary insurance as the Tips answered at 15:58, Birkholz putting in a rebound of Cody Fowlie’s shot after good work down low by defenseman Dominik Bittner.
Chiefs 4, Silvertips 2
Spokane112—4
Everett101—2
First Period—1, Everett, Murray 7 (Winquist), 5:16. 2, Spokane, Fiddler 10 (Kichton, Kuhn), 8:06 (pp). Penalties—Winquist, Everett (slashing), 7:04; Lotz, Everett (delay of game, served by Lofthouse), 9:20; Baldwin, Spokane (tripping), 13:01.
Second Period—3, Spokane, Kuhn 11 (Baldwin), 6:48 (pp). Penalties—Boyd, Everett (checking from behind-checking from behind), 3:20; Harrison, Everett (roughing), 8:21; Gow, Spokane (holding), 12:04.
Third Period—4, Spokane, Kramer 16 (Aviani), 9:03. 5, Everett, Birkholz 21 (Fowlie, Bittner), 15:58. 6, Spokane, Kuhn 12 (Gal), 19:59 (en). Penalties—Chynoweth, Everett (hooking), 2:59; Fowlie, Everett (interference), 5:26.
Shots on goal—Spokane 10-12-14—36. Everett 8-4-9—21. Power-play opportunities—Spokane 2 of 7. Everett 0 of 2.
Goalies—Spokane, Engel 22-12-1-2 (21 shots, 19 saves). Everett, Lotz 2-6-0-2 (35 shots, 32 saves). A—3,548.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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