EVERETT – Taylor Ellington’s job for the Everett Silvertips has never been to score goals. The rugged defenseman’s role is to be sound in his own end, and any offense that comes from him is a bonus.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
But even stay-at-home defensemen generally chip in with a handful of goals each season. Not so Ellington, who hadn’t found the net for two full seasons.
So when Ellington broke a scoreless tie in Game 1 of Everett’s first-round playoff series against Tri-City on Friday night, it was understandable when the celebrations were even a little more raucous than the circumstances dictated.
“Oh my God, I couldn’t have asked for a first goal in a better way,” said Ellington, whose goal proved to be the game winner in a 4-0 Everett victory. “But it was all (Shaun) Heshka. He controlled the point and shot the puck in, and I just got the rebound. It was pure luck.”
The goal came early in the second period. A delayed penalty was called on Tri-City, allowing Ellington to carry the puck deep into the offensive zone and remain down low. Everett moved the puck to Heshka at the point and although his shot was saved by Tri-City goaltender Carey Price, the rebound came out to Ellington in the left slot, where he banged it into the open net.
“The goal looked big,” Ellington said. “I’ve never seen it that close. I was shocked. First of all (John) Lammers grabbed me and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ “
The 17-year-old Ellington hadn’t scored in his previous 110 regular season and eight playoff games. And as happy as Ellington was to finally break through, his teammates were even happier.
“Ellington, who would have thought?” Heshka said of his defensive partner. “I’m really happy for him. I’ve gotten a lot of points this year, but for him to get a key goal like that, a game-winning goal, I’m really happy for him and I hope it continues for him.”
Everett captain Torrie Wheat agreed: “I’m so happy for him. He’s a guy who for the last two years has battled so hard for us every night. He’s an intense kid and wants nothing more than what’s good for the team. For him to do something like that is really special for him and huge for our hockey team as well.”
While seeing Ellington’s name on the scoresheet may be a bit of a surprise, Everett coach Kevin Constantine was not surprised to see some sort of unusual name there.
“We talked about how unusual people end up being heroes in the playoffs as encouragement that all our guys prepare,” Constantine said. “That happens in the playoffs. Guys who maybe don’t figure prominently in the regular season become goal scorers in the playoffs, and that’s an example.”
Great debut: Leland Irving may have witnessed his share of playoff games from a good vantage point, but prior to Friday Everett’s No. 1 goaltender had yet to experience one from the ice.
So no one was more surprised than Irving to see his playoff register begin with a shutout.
“I never expected this,” Irving said following Friday’s 4-0 victory. “I go into every game just trying to give the guys a chance to win. I know I can count on them to battle every night, work hard and take care of their end. I just have to make sure I take care of mine. The guys were blocking shots and clearing rebounds. Without them there’s no way I could have had a game like this.”
The 17-year-old Irving, who served as Michael Wall’s backup in Everett’s 11 playoff games last season, finished with 27 saves to earn the shutout.
Tough game: Wheat has a pair of the best hands among the Tips. They helped the 21-year-old right wing lead Everett in scoring last season, then average more than a point per game this season.
So it was surprising to see Wheat struggle the way he did in Everett’s 2-1 loss in Saturday’s Game 2.
Wheat was fighting the puck all night, having difficulty controlling it, then being able to do what he wanted with it when he did. The toughest moments for Wheat came during a sequence early in the second period. The Tips had a golden opportunity to go up two goals while on the power play, but Wheat three times was unable to score from in close with the net gaping, once fumbling the puck and twice shooting wide.
“I had a few empty nets that I just fanned on or missed,” Wheat acknowledged.
“They battle hard and compete hard, and when a team does that you don’t get much time or much space,” Wheat added. “You’re not going to feel like you have that time to make plays that you sometimes have. You have to change your game a bit and some of us maybe didn’t do that.”
Missing person: Everett was also hindered in Game 2 by the absence of defenseman Shaun Heshka. Heshka, who mans the point on Everett’s power play and finished second in the league in scoring among defensemen, had two assists in Game 1 as Everett went 3-for-5 on the power play. However, without Heshka in the lineup because of the flu, Everett was just a touch off on the power play in Game 2 and finished 1-for-6.
“We’re better with him,” Constantine said. “The guys who went out there got some pretty good chances. But you get a little out of rhythm and a little out of position, so you’re not quite in as natural a spot as you would be with Shaun back there. So I think it was a factor.”
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