EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips returned to the ice Saturday night, but in many respects it seemed the Tips were still on their Christmas break.
Everett played a sloppy game, both physically and mentally, and the Tips opened the second half of the season with a 5-2 loss to the Chilliwack Bruins at Comcast Arena.
Ryan Howse scored a hat trick as Chilliwack was the beneficiary of a tepid display by the Tips. Everett did little to inspire while at even strength, which was rare as the Tips spent much of the game short-handed because of unnecessary penalties. Chilliwack was given eight chances on the power play while the Tips had just three.
Randy McNaught and Alexander Wiklund also scored for Chilliwack and Lucas Gore made 23 saves in goal for the Bruins (11-22-2-2), who lost 11 of 12 prior to the Christmas break.
Tyler Maxwell and Kyle Beach scored and Shayne Barrie made 23 saves in goal for Everett (15-14-5-0).
The game was delayed 30 minutes because Chilliwack was late arriving. The Bruins got stuck in traffic because of an accident on the Trans-Canada Highway.
The same two teams play again tonight in Chilliwack.
Neither team could find the net in the first period. Everett had the best chance late in the period when the Tips were awarded a penalty shot after Chilliwack defenseman Scott Ramsay hauled down Jesse Burt on a partial breakaway. However, Gore saved Burt’s attempt as the game remained scoreless.
But it all fell apart for Everett in the second as the Tips took a series of needless penalties and the Bruins made them pay.
Chilliwack first got on the board 2 minutes, 51 seconds into the period when, on the power play, Brett Ward’s shot from the left circle deflected off McNaught and past Barrie to make it 1-0. The Bruins made it 2-0 at 7:25 when, shortly after another Chilliwack power play ended, Howse scored on the rebound from a tight angle.
Everett got itself back into the game at 11:51 with a power-play goal of its own, Maxwell scoring at the far post after a nice passing move that involved Byron Froese and Kellan Tochkin.
But Chilliwack restored its two-goal advantage at 17:54 with another power-play marker, Howse undressing Everett’s Zack Dailey before scoring past Barrie to make it 3-1.
The Bruins then turned into a laugher early in the third. Barrie denied Howse his hat trick on a two-on-one, but Wiklund cleaned up the rebound at 2:12 for Chilliwack’s third power-play goal of the game. Howse needed just 1:11 more to finally get his third goal, shooting on a short-handed two-on-one and beating Barrie to make it 5-1.
Everett scored a consolation goal at 13:15, Shane Harper making a nice pass from behind the net to Beach cutting in, with Beach scoring to make it 5-2.
Slap shots: Everett played without leading goal scorer Daniel Bartek, who is sidelined with an infected knee. … Tips defenseman Trevor Bauer made his first appearance for the team. Bauer, who was added to the roster in late November, hadn’t played because of a shoulder injury. … With goaltender Kent Simpson playing for Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, former Vancouver Giant Kraymer Barnstable was called up to serve as Barrie’s backup. … Chilliwack defenseman Matt Strong, a former Silvertip, did not play. He’s been out since the second week of the season because of a shoulder injury. … The Bruins were also without leading scorer Jadon Potter (neck injury), as well as exciting 16-year-old forward Kevin Sundher (Team Pacific).
Bruins 5, Silvertips 2
Chilliwack032—5
Everett011—2
@5. NHL box :First Period—No goals. Penalties—Potuer, Everett (tripping), 4:48; Wiklund, Chilliwack (roughing), 19:15.
Second Period—1, Chilliwack, McNaught 4 (Ward, Bettauer), 2:51 (pp). 2, Chilliwack, Howse 14 (Meropoulis, McKinlay), 7:25. 3, Everett, Maxwell 14 (Froese, Tochkin), 11:51 (pp). 4, Chilliwack, Howse 15 (Small), 17:54 (pp). Penalties—Tochkin, Everett (hooking), 1:21; Beach, Everett (roughing), 5:04; McNaught, Chilliwack (roughing), 8:30; Abney, Everett (roughing), 8:30; McNaught, Chilliwack (fighting), 10:34; Abney, Everett (fighting), 10:34; Bettauer, Chilliwack (cross checking), 10:54; Sohor, Everett (delay of game), 16:53; Bhungal, Chilliwack (roughing), 19:47; Beach, Everett (elbowing-roughing-roughing), 19:47.
Third Period—5, Chilliwack, Wiklund 7 (Ward, Howse), 2:12 (pp). 6, Chilliwack, Howse 16, 3:23 (sh). 7, Everett, Beach 8 (Harper, Ellington), 13:15. Penalties—Ramsay, Chilliwack (hooking), 3:03; Ellington, Everett (roughing), 9:23; Robinson, Chilliwack (fighting), 19:54; Bauer, Everett (roughing-fighting), 19:54; McKinlay, Chilliwack (fighting), 20:00; Sohor, Everett (fighting), 20:00.
Shots on goal—Chilliwack 8-12-8—28. Everett 9-7-9—25. Power-play opportunities—Chilliwack 3 of 8. Everett 1 of 3.
Goalies—Chilliwack, Gore 4-8-1-0 (25 shots, 23 saves). Everett, Barrie 8-9-3-0 (28 shots, 23 saves).
A—6,847.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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