VANCOUVER, British Columbia — It took the Everett Silvertips two periods to shake the rust off their lengthy layoff.
So it was ironic that just when it seemed the Silvertips had finally gotten into an offensive flow, the Vancouver Giants popped the game winner.
Braden Appleby scored the tiebreaking goal with 4 minutes, 23 seconds to play, giving the Giants a 2-1 victory over the Silvertips in Game 1 of their second-round Western Hockey League playoff series Friday night.
Before a crowd of 6,392 at Pacific Coliseum, Appleby cleaned up a rebound in front to give Vancouver a 1-0 series lead heading into tonight’s Game 2.
"There was a lot that happened that you probably anticipate a little," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "Both teams had some days off so the first period didn’t have as many scoring chances as did the rest of the game once both teams got a week’s rust off and started playing."
Everett, which hadn’t played since finishing off Spokane in the first round nine days earlier, appeared to be the rustier of the two teams. The Silvertips needed 15 minutes before managing their second shot on goal and took just 13 shots in the first two periods versus 22 by Vancouver.
But thanks to a tremendous solo goal by Curtis Billsten, the Silvertips entered the third period tied 1-1. In the third period, the Silvertips began to wrest control of the game, outshooting Vancouver 13-6. Then Appleby Struck.
On the rush, Kyle Bruce beat Mitch Love to a puck along the right board and although his shot went wide, it bounced out to Triston Grant on the left. Grant’s shot was saved by Everett goalie Jeff Harvey, but Appleby, on the doorstep, corralled the puck and put it in to give the Giants the lead.
"I think we were a little rusty when we first got out there," Everett forward Chad Bassen
said. "We don’t want to use that as an excuse, though. We should have been sharper tonight and we weren’t. Tomorrow we have to be."
The Silvertips also were plagued by penalties. Everett was the least-penalized team in the WHL during the regular season. But Friday the Silvertips gave up seven power plays while receiving just three of their own. Everett didn’t give up a power-play goal, but the Silvertips used up a lot of energy killing those penalties off.
"We took some bad penalties tonight," Bassen said. "They’re great on the power play, so we don’t want to keep giving them that many chances. They’ll bury us if we give them that many chances."
Aaron Sorochan finished with 25 saves in goal for Vancouver, Harvey made 26 stops for Everett.
The Silvertips spent much of the first period on the defensive, but Harvey made sure the game remained scoreless.
Harvey twice denied Vancouver players from point blank, stoning both Tyson Marsh and Ty Morris. He also made several other good saves, the pick being a kick save from Darren Lynch after Lynch had grabbed a loose puck in the Everett zone and walked in on goal.
In contrast, Everett managed just four shots on goal in the first period, two from outside the blue line.
The Silvertips best scoring chance came when Martin Ruzicka’s rebound attempt got behind Sorochan, but whistled wide.
Vancouver continued to pressure Everett’s goal, but the Silvertips took the lead at 13:04 on a
tremendous individual effort by Billsten. Shaun Heshka released Billsten into open ice up the
middle. Billsten still had two defenders in front of him, but Billsten slipped between the two defenders, skated in on goal and put the puck into the upper-right corner to give the Silvertips the lead. It was his first goal of the playoffs.
Vancouver needed little time to answer. Just as a Vancouver power play ended, Marsh fired a blast from the center point just wide. But the force of the shot caused the puck to rebound off the back boards and into the slot, where Morris was there to put in the rebound, tying it at 1-1 at 15:30 with his fifth goal of the playoffs.
Slap shots: The playful war of words between the Silvertips and the Giants continued during Game 1. In an effort to fire up the home fans, the Giants handed out flyers before the game with Harvey’s response to Vancouver general manager Scott Bonner’s description of Everett’s fans as ruthless: "It’s not supposed to be a library like the Pacific Coliseum has been every time we’ve been there." Harvey was serenaded by the fans behind the Everett goal with chants of Har-vey throughout the game. … Defenseman Cody Thoring was in the lineup Friday, preferred to Devin Wilson, who was a healthy scratch.
At Vancouver, B.C.
First Period—No goals. Second Period—1, Everett, Billsten 1 (Heshka), 13:04. 2, Vancouver, Morris 5 (Marsh, Lynch), 15:30. Third Period—3, Vancouver, Appleby 1 (Grant, Bruce), 15:37. Shots on goal—Everett 4-9-13—26. Vancouver 11-11-6—28. Power-play opportunities—Everett 0 of 3. Vancouver 0 of 7. Goalies—Everett, Harvey 4-1 (28 shots, 26 saves). Vancouver, Sorochan 5-1 (26 shots, 25 saves). |
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