EVERETT – Two fantastic shots by Kyle Beach.
Sixty perfect minutes from Leland Irving.
And the Everett Silvertips are back on track.
Everett bounced back from its first loss of the season with a strong effort, and the Silvertips defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 Saturday night at the Everett Events Center.
Beach scored a pair of long-range goals and Irving stopped 41 shots as Everett rebounded from its 2-1 shootout loss to Spokane on Friday.
“I thought today we battled for a full 60 minutes instead of 20 or 40 or 50,” Beach said. “So that was really nice to see. It was also really nice to see how we bounced back after a loss. We proved we have tons of heart and hopefully we can keep that up for the rest of the season.”
Jonathan Harty added a goal and two assists for Everett (5-0-0-1), which has 11 points out of a possible 12 from its first six games. The Tips surrendered just five goals in those six games.
Derek Yeomans made 23 saves in net for Seattle (1-2-0-2). Everett found the offensive breakthrough thanks to its power play. After struggling with the advantage in the season’s first five games, the Tips scored two power-play goals in a span of five minutes late in the second period to snap a scoreless deadlock and give Everett control of the game.
“Everett came at us with a few hard shifts in a row and we didn’t respond as well as we needed to,” Seattle coach Rob Sumner said. “We didn’t match that intensity in that wave, it led to penalties and obviously that team can score on the power play.”
From there it was all Irving, who had to do some scramble work in the crease, but otherwise was only called upon to make saves on shots from a distance. The shutout was Irving’s second of the season.
“Normally I’m expecting the low 20s for shots,” Irving said. “But it’s nice for a change to get a few more. I wouldn’t say we broke down defensively because a lot of the shots were from the outside. But a team like Seattle is going to be throwing it from everywhere, so you’ve got to be ready for it.”
Beach had a terrific game as the 16-year-old rookie flashed the skills that made him a first-round pick in the 2005 bantam draft. Beach’s first goal, Everett’s second at 19:09 of the second period, came on the power play when Peter Mueller’s blast from the center point rebounded out front into the slot. Beach collected the puck and rifled a shot in off the underside of the crossbar to make it 2-0.
Beach’s second, 1:51 into the third period, was pure power. Moises Gutierrez, from his stomach, chipped the puck out of the Everett zone and into Beach’s path. Beach steamed ahead one-on-one, then blew a slap shot past Yeomans into the upper-left corner to make it 3-0.
“Beach was really good tonight,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I thought (Friday) night he was out of rhythm a little bit, which playing with Mueller would make you do. When you play with a guy of Mueller’s stature you’re always thinking, ‘Should I get him the puck? Should I make a play myself?’ and you don’t play real natural. Tonight Beach just went and played, didn’t worry who he was on the ice with and I thought he looked more natural.”
After a scoreless first 34 minutes, Everett broke through on the power play at 14:25 of the second period. Beach tried a centering pass that hit off a skate and got hung up on the post. Harty skated in and forced it home, giving the Tips a 1-0 lead.
Slap shots: Everett defenseman Taylor Ellington, who’s limited by a lower-body injury, gave it a go during warmups but was unable to play, thus missing his second straight game. He was joined as an injury scratch by defenseman Eric Doyle (head), who sat out his third straight game. … Mueller is the current choice to man the center point on the power play, as opposed to any of Everett’s defensemen. For the first time this season he and Hamill played on the same power-play unit.
At Everett Events Center
Seattle000-0
Everett021-3
First Period-No goals. Penalties-Quakenbush, Seattle (interference), 2:08; Harper, Everett (interference), 3:57; Seattle bench (too many men, served by Meidl), 7:34; Gagnon, Seattle (hooking), 9:56; Potuer, Everett (interference), 11:47.
Second Period-1, Everett, Harty 1 (Beach, Hamill), 14:25 (pp). 2, Everett, Beach 3 (Mueller, Harty), 19:09 (pp). Penalties-Dailey, Everett (boarding), 6:17; Durand, Seattle (checking from behind), 13:17; Durand, Seattle (holding), 16:09; Hickey, Seattle (tripping), 18:23.
Third Period-3, Everett, Beach 4 (Gutierrez, Harty), 1:51. Penalties-Meidl, Seattle (hooking), 2:28; Harty, Everett (hooking), 2:28; Hickey, Seattle (high sticking), 4:34; Potuer, Everett (slashing), 10:24; Durand, Seattle (tripping), 12:12; Harty, Everett (cross-checking), 18:35.
Shots on goal-Seattle 12-12-17-41. Everett 8-11-7-26. Power-play opportunities-Seattle 0 of 5. Everett 2 of 8.
Goalies-Seattle, Yeomans 1-2-0-1 (26 shots, 23 saves). Everett, Irving 5-0-0-1 (41 shots, 41 saves).
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