EVERETT — The moment summed up the Everett Silvertips’ evening.
With 5 minutes remaining in the game, Everett star winger Nikita Scherbak came out of the penalty box, skated to a loose puck and had a free run at goal. But before Scherbak could even get a shot off he fell down on his own accord, and the scoring chance went begging.
The Tips left a lot of chances on the ice Saturday night.
Everett’s finishing dried up as the short-handed Silvertips fell 5-1 to the Prince George Cougars at Xfinity Arena.
The Tips were in a bind before the game even started as they were forced to play without three of their top five defensemen. But the Tips were let down more by their profligate offense than they were by their makeshift defense. Everett outchanced Prince George significantly through the first two periods, yet still trailed 3-1 through two.
“I think the scoring chances in the first period were 11-4 for us, so based on a pretty depleted roster I thought we really came out and did a good job in the first period,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “The problem was the score was 1-1. (In Friday’s 7-2 victory) Calgary outplayed us in the first period, but the score was 2-1 us. Tonight it would have been nice if the score was 1-0 or 2-1 after the first. Then in the second period the chances were dead even at 5-5, but their pucks went in and ours didn’t.”
Chase Witala scored two goals and Jansen Harkins added three assists for Prince George (26-33-2-2), which has been playing better hockey of late. The Cougars have won four of their past five to get back in the race for the third and final guaranteed playoff berth in the WHL’s B.C. Division.
“I thought we were solid in all three zones,” said Prince George coach Mark Holick, whose team lost home games to Everett 6-1 and 4-1 in late January. “One goal against in this building, keeping guys like Scherbak in check, is good. They were banged up a little on the back end and we wanted to put some pressure on their D and force some turnovers, and our first couple goals were the result of that. Our power play was rolling, our penalty kill was good, so I think it was real solid.”
Aaron Boyd, Zach Pochiro and former Silvertip Jari Erricson also scored for the Cougars, who decisively won the special teams battle with two power-play goals and a short-hander. Ty Edmonds earned the win in goal with 27 saves.
Jake Mykitiuk scored the lone goal for Everett (37-19-3-4), which saw its lead shrink back to two points over Portland for first place in the U.S. Division. Portland beat Seattle 5-2 Saturday, and the Winterhawks have played one game fewer.
Austin Lotz finished with 24 saves in net for the Tips.
Constantine was forced to do his best MacGyver impersonation to put his defense together Saturday. The Tips were already without Kevin Davis because of an upper-body injury. Saturday morning they learned Ben Betker had been suspended one game by the WHL for his checking-to-the-head major penalty from Friday’s game. Then Tristen Pfeifer was also ruled out because of an upper-body injury.
Without three of its top five blueliners, Everett dressed just four defensemen rather than the regular six, and that included the seldom-used Jordan Wharrie. Winger Dawson Leedahl was plugged in as an emergency defenseman.
“It was hard,” Constantine said about having to navigate the shortage on defense. “Betker, Pfeifer, Davis, they log a lot of minutes. Wharrie did an OK job, but he’s probably played more forward than D this season. And I thought Dawson did a great job for a guy who’s never played D in his whole life. When you only have three of your six regular D on the ice it’s tough.”
But despite allowing five goals, the defense wasn’t the primary problem for the Tips.
Everett was coming Friday’s big victory over red-hot Calgary, a game in which the Tips made the absolute most of their scoring chances. But apparently Everett burned all its finishing in that game. The Tips had the puck in quality positions on countless occasions, particularly during the second period, but all too often the shot either went wide or right into Edmonds’ gut.
It all coalesced in the second period. The score was tied 1-1 after the first, and Everett created several good openings early in the second, putting most of those wide. Then Prince George scored on its first chance of the period at 8:21 to take the lead. Everett’s forward dallied over the puck, allowing the Cougars to steal and create a two-on-one. Harkins fed Boyd, who rolled a shot past Lotz to make it 2-1.
It was more of the same the rest of the second period, with Everett spurning chances. Lotz made a good save on Aaron Macklin on a breakaway, but he was beat by Pochiro’s blast off the rush at 18:32, putting the Tips in a two-goal hole.
“When you’re fatigued you’re just not as crisp,” Constantine said, noting the defensive absences played a role in that. “Offense requires some skill and precision. When you’re tired you lose a little bit of precision to your offense. I thought we had some really good chances in the second, but on some chances we lacked a little bit of that crispness.”
Then the game evolved into a special teams battle in the third, and Prince George controlled those to put the game away. Erricson put home a rebound on a five-on-three at 7:18, then Witala scored around Lotz on a two-on-none short-handed break at 17:48 to finish the scoring.
Cougars 5, Silvertips 1
Prince George 1 2 2 — 5
Everett 1 0 0 — 1
First Period—1, Everett, Mykitiuk 3 (Aasman), 10:16. 2, Prince George, Witala 31 (Connolly, Harkins), 13:02 (pp). Penalties—Ross, Prince George (cross checking), 7:22; Fonteyne, Everett (slashing), 7:22; Scherbak, Everett (roughing), 12:28; Olson, Prince George (holding), 13:36; Ruopp, Prince George (delay of game), 17:43.
Second Period—3, Prince George, Boyd 6 (Harkins), 8:21. 4, Prince George, Pochiro 16, 18:32. Penalties—none.
Third Period—5, Prince George, Erricson 21 (Connolly, Harkins), 7:18 (pp). 6, Prince George, Witala 32 (Pochiro), 17:48 (sh). Penalties—Erricson, Prince George (tripping), 4:45; Bajkov, Everett (slashing), 5:34; Leedahl, Everett (playing without helmet), 6:09; Bethune, Prince George (goaltender interference), 10:25; Scherbak, Everett (roughing), 12:47; Andrlik, Prince George (10-minute misconduct), 15:30; Connolly, Prince George (hooking), 16:22.
Shots on goal—Prince George 8-8-13—29. Everett 13-9-6—28. Power-play opportunities—Prince George 2 of 4. Everett 0 of 5.
Goalies—Prince George, Edmonds 23-22-2-2 (28 shots, 27 saves). Everett, Lotz 24-15-1-3 (29 shots, 24 saves).
A—5,811.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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