Dominated

EVERETT — It’s hard to imagine a game going much worse for the Everett Silvertips.

First the Tips lost their captain and star defenseman Ryan Murray to injury less than four minutes into the game. Then they lost their composure in the second period.

One word describes the result of th

ose circumstances from Everett’s perspective: ugly.

Everett collapsed in the face of adversity Wednesday night, getting throttled by the Brandon Wheat Kings 8-2 before a surly crowd at Comcast Arena.

Brandon put the game away with a dominating second period, when the Wheat Kings outsho

t the Tips 19-2 and scored five times to build a 7-1 lead. Four of those goals came in the final five minutes as Everett went completely to pieces.

The six-goal defeat was Everett’s worst since losing 6-0 at Tri-City on Nov. 20, 2009.

“We deserved everything we got tonight, no question about it,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said. “I just feel bad that the fans actually had to pay the money to come watch that game.”

If the lopsided final score wasn’t insult enough for the Tips, they now must wait upon the diagnosis for Murray. He was crunched hard into the boards on his second shift of the game, skated directly to the bench and headed straight to the locker room. Murry did not return and was later seen on crutches. Ferner said he did not know the extent of the injury.

The destruction wasn’t limited to Murray. Everett also finished the game without leading scorer Josh Birkholz, who left in the third period because of back issues, and key forward Ryan Harrison, who limped off in the second after blocking a shot.

Tips goaltender Kent Simpson also was a casualty, though of a different sort. Simpson allowed a couple soft goals and was pulled late in the second period after stopping just 20 of 25 shots.

While the loss of key players was a factor, Ferner wasn’t about to pin the performance on their absence.

“Murray logs a lot of ice time, but at the same time it was an opportunity for other guys to step up,” Ferner said. “The younger kids got more of an opportunity and they were our better players. When you have veterans who are a minus-3, minus-4, minus-5 on a night like this, there’s no excuse. I’m not going to say it’s their fault, but we need more guys who are part of the solution, not part of the problem, and we had some real bad habits creep into our game.”

Brandon had several players get in on the fun Wednesday. Paul Ciarelli and Darian Dziurzynski each scored two goals, and Michael Ferland and Brenden Walker each added a goal and two assists. Ayrton Nikkel scored his first career WHL goal, and Mark Stone also scored for Brandon (7-3-0-1), which finished its five-game swing through the U.S. Division at 3-2.

“I thought we played well,” Brandon coach Cory Clouston said. “We had a couple momentum swings in the first period. But after they scored the goal late in the first period I thought we did a good job of sticking with our gameplan, clogging up the neutral zone and being real solid defensively. We created turnovers and took advantage of those turnovers.”

Harrison and Jari Erricson scored the goals for Everett (2-6-0-2).

The game took an unusual form when the first period ended prematurely. With 2:27 remaining in the first a piece of glass broke off one of the panels behind the west goal. The officials decided to take the intermission early rather than wait for the glass to be replaced. After the intermission the final 2:27 of the first period was played, with the second period beginning immediately afterward.

Despite the loss of Murray the Tips hung tough in the first, and even pulled within one at 2-1 when Harrison scored during the first-period continuation after the intermission.

But the Tips fell apart midway through the second. It began when the Wheat Kings scored 9:30 into the period. Everett was getting a penalty and Birkholz was down injured behind the play. The Wheat Kings took advantage, Ciarelli tipping Ryley Miller’s shot from the point past Simpson to make it 3-1.

Then it became farcical during the final five minutes of the period. Nikkel beat Simpson clean with a slap shot from the point at 15:41, and the frazzled Tips allowed Dziurzynski to score on a scramble in front at 17:15, sending Simpson to the bench in favor of Austin Lotz.

Everett remained a mess, and the Wheat Kings scored on their first shot against Lotz, Stone converting a Ferland feed in front a mere 27 seconds later. Brandon completed the dominating stretch at 19:44, Walker scoring in front on another feed from Ferland. The carnage left Brandon with a 7-1 lead and Everett with a severe case of shell shock.

Wheat Kings 8, Silvertips 2

Brandon 2 5 1 — 8

Everett 1 0 1 — 2

First Period–1, Brandon, Ciarelli 4 (Roy, Dziurzynski), 1:21. 2, Brandon, Ferland 9 (Pulock), 13:04 (pp). 3, Everett, Harrison 3 (Winquist, Erricson), 19:48. Penalties–Yadlowski, Everett (delay of game), 11:31.

Second Period–4, Brandon, Ciarelli 5 (Miller, Seaman), 9:30. 5, Brandon, Nikkel 1 (Walker, Bertaggia), 15:41. 6, Brandon, Dziurzynski 5 (Ciarelli, Bertaggia), 17:15. 7, Brandon, Stone 7 (Ferland, Walker), 17:42. 8, Brandon, Walker 4 (Ferland. Pulock), 19:44. Penalties–Maxwell, Everett (checking from behind), 1:23; Everett bench (too many men, served by McPhee), 6:43; Ciarelli, Brandon (roughing), 8:53; Walters, Everett (roughing), 8:53; Ciarelli, Brandon (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:43; Maxwell, Everett (roughing), 12:43.

Third Period–9, Everett, Erricson 1 (Lofthouse), 17:21. 10, Brandon, Dziurzynski 6, 19:03 (sh). Penalties–McPhee, Everett (kneeing), 1:57; Erricson, Everett (slashing), 11:04; Nikkel, Brandon (tripping), 15:07; Bertaggia, Brandon (interference), 18:05.

Shots on goal–Brandon 11-19-8–38. Everett 14-2-16–32. Power-play opportunities–Brandon 1 of 5. Everett 0 of 2.

Goalies–Brandon, Anderson 4-3-0-1 (32 shots, 30 saves). Everett, Simpson 2-5-0-1 (25 shots, 20 saves), Lotz (13 shots, 10 saves).

A–3,239.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.