EVERETT — When the final horn sounded, the Everett Silvertips gathered in front of their own goal and raised their sticks in unison toward the sky.
Somewhere Jordan Mistelbacher was looking down, smiling.
Playing for the first time since the tragic death of their former teammate, Everett scored four goals in a six-minute span of the third period, and the Tips defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-5 Friday night.
“It was so important,” Everett defenseman Taylor Ellington said of the victory. “It was bar none the most emotional game I’ve ever played in my life. It was hard in the room, it was hard the first shift and it’s hard right now. But we’re all happy in there. Missile would be happy. We came out as a team and said we would do this for him, and you know what, we got the win.”
A sellout crowd of 8,332 at Comcast Arena took part in the remembrance of Mistelbacher, who was found dead at his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Tuesday. He had been reassigned by Everett to the Winnipeg Saints of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League just three days earlier.
A moment of silence was observed prior to the game, and the players were wearing “18” decals on their helmets in honor of Mistelbacher, who wore No. 18 for the Tips. The team will wear the decals for the remainder of the season and playoffs.
Then the Tips went out and won it in the third period. Lindsay Nielsen had tied it at 2-2 just 1 minute, 11 seconds into the third. But Markus McCrea scored the first of his two goals just seven seconds later to restore Everett’s lead. Then Zack Dailey, McCrea and Shane Harper scored in quick succession during an emotional tidal wave.
Seattle twice rallied back within two, and the T-birds had a late power play. But knowing what was at stake, the Tips weren’t about to let this one slip away. The teams combined for nine goals in the third period.
“It’s emotionally draining to go through what we went through this week,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “So for our guys to play as hard as they did in the third, knowing there was nothing left in the tank, and to see them throwing their bodies in front of pucks like they did at the end, it was special. There’s not a dry eye in the locker room right now.
“In six years that’s by far the win I’ll remember the most,” Becanic continued. “I hope I have many more wins here as a head coach, but that’s one will stick out in my mind forever.”
Kellan Tochkin added a goal and two assists for Everett (21-17-5-0), Ellington and Byron Froese also scored, and Thomas Heemskerk made 30 saves in goal for the Tips.
Thomas Hickey scored twice, and Chris Cloud and Jim O’Brien also scored for Seattle (18-22-1-3). Calvin Pickard stopped 14 of 19 shots in goal for Seattle before being pulled in the third period. Jacob DeSerres gave up two goals on three shots in relief and ended up with the loss.
Becanic said the game followed a similar pattern to the team’s emotions throughout the day, with lots of ups and downs.
“I think how the game went was how our day was,” He said. “It was serious before the game, chatty between periods, quiet but with smiles and tears after the game. We’ve run the full gamut. I know how exhausted I am emotionally and I didn’t have to play the game. I can only imagine those poor kids who have dehydrated their tear ducts the last three days.”
It remains to be seen how much the Tips have left for the rest of a busy weekend. Everett and Seattle face off again tonight in Kent, then the Tips play host to Kamloops on Sunday.
Seattle jumped out to the lead just 1:21 into the game when Cloud pounced on a rebound, and one wondered whether the Tips had enough left after the emotional week to get through.
But Ellington powered a one-timer into the far corner on the power play at 5:52, raising his stick to the sky and signaling Everett’s intention to battle for this one.
Everett ended up scoring its seven goals on just 22 shots. One wonders whether the Tips were receiving a little assistance from above.
“Could be,” Ellington said.
Slap shots: Everett was missing several regulars. Left wing Daniel Bartek is out for a month with a foot fracture; defenseman Mike Alexander has yet to be cleared to return from his concussion; defenseman Chris de la Lande suffered a groin injury in practice Thursday; and winger Ryan White is away for personal reasons. … Seattle had its big guns, defenseman Thomas Hickey and center Jim O’Brien, back in the lineup. Hickey (Canada) and O’Brien (U.S.) were at the World Junior Hockey Championships when the teams last met on Jan. 3.
Silvertips 7, Thunderbirds 5
Seattle104— 5
Everett115— 7
@5. NHL box :First Period — 1, Seattle, Cloud 9 (Chaffin, Nielsen), 1:21. 2, Everett, Ellington 2 (Maxwell, Harper), 5:52 (pp). Penalties — Lund, Seattle (interference), 4:38; O’Brien, Seattle (boarding), 12:14.
Second Period — 3, Everett, Froese 13 (Maxwell, Tochkin), 1:09. Penalties — Dillon, Seattle (roughing), 4:43; Iwanski, Everett (goaltender interference-unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:43; Burt, Everett (hooking), 6:04; Schappert, Seattle (hooking), 9:12; Haber, Seattle (hooking), 15:58; Hunt, Everett (hooking), 19:37.
Third Period — 4, Seattle, Nielsen 11 (Boyer, Schappert), 1:11 (pp). 5, Everett, McCrea 3 (Iwanski), 1:18. 6, Everett, Dailey 6 (McDermott, Hunt), 4:23. 7, Everett, McCrea 4 (Van de Velde, Iwanski), 5:29. 8, Everett, Harper 19 (Tochkin, Dailey), 6:50. 9, Seattle, O’Brien 13 (Scott), 9:51 (pp). 10, Seattle, Hickey 7 (Haber), 11:47. 11, Everett, Tochkin 14, 12:43. 12, Seattle, Hickey 8 (Haber), 13:06. Penalties — Maxwell, Everett (hooking), 8:16; Burt, Everett (slashing), 9:31; Hickey, Seattle (interference), 14:09; McCrea, Everett (high sticking), 14:09; Parker, Seattle (fighting), 16:51; LeBlanc, Seattle (10-minute misconduct), 16:51; Dailey, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 16:51; Ellington, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 16:51; Potuer, Everett (roughing-fighting), 16:51; Acolatse, Seattle (roughing), 18:07.
Shots on goal — Seattle 11-10-14 — 35. Everett 5-7-10 — 22. Power-play opportunities — Seattle 2 of 6. Everett 1 of 4.
Goalies — Seattle, Pickard (19 shots, 14 saves), DeSerres 8-13-0-0 (3 shots, 1 saves). Everett, Heemskerk 10-8-2-2 (35 shots, 30 saves).
A — 8,332.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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