Maxwell scores 4 goals, Silvertips beat T-birds 6-5
Published 10:43 pm Saturday, January 15, 2011
EVERETT — Tyler Maxwell had the game of his life Saturday night.
It proved just enough for the Everett Silvertips.
Maxwell tied an Everett franchise record by scoring four goals, and the Tips just hung on to defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-5 in a wild contest at Comcast Arena.
Saturday’s game featured non-stop up-and-down action, with a month’s worth of scoring chances. Everett jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then had to hang on at the end. It made for great entertainment value for the sellout crowd of 8,344, which was kept on the edge of its seat throughout. But it’s also the type of game that gives coaches ulcers, with numerous defensive breakdowns.
“I’m going straight back to Providence (Medical Center) to get my heart fixed again,” quipped Everett coach Craig Hartsburg, who recently returned after undergoing heart surgery in November.
Maxwell’s four-goal game was just the second in Everett’s eight seasons in the WHL. The only other time it happened was when Moises Gutierrez found the net four times on Jan. 24, 2007 against Portland. Maxwell’s fourth goal stood up as the game winner.
“It was a good night,” Maxwell said in something of an understatement. “I owe a lot to my linemates, Ryan Harrison and Landon Ferraro. They put us together a little bit (Friday) night at Seattle, and I think today we really clicked. I really like playing with those guys.”
Harrison, the newest Silvertip, also had a big night. Playing in his first home game since being acquired from Medicine Hat, Harrison introduced himself to the home crowd by tallying two goals and two assists.
“It was unbelievable, the fan support tonight,” Harrison said. “It felt really special to play in front of it.
“We had some good chemistry tonight, me, Tyler and Landon,” Harrison added. “We’re all skilled guys, and when we all work hard I think it’s going to make things happen like it did tonight.”
Ferraro finished with three assists as Everett’s offense broke out in a big way. The Tips came into the game having scored the fewest goals in the WHL, and Everett had just 12 goals in its seven games since the Christmas break. The six goals matched a season high, set Dec. 3 in a 6-0 victory at Swift Current.
It was also a crucial victory in the playoff race. Everett, which lost 3-1 at Seattle on Friday, was in danger of dropping six points behind the T-birds, who currently occupy seventh place in the Western Conference. Instead, four teams now find themselves within two points of one another at the bottom of the conference standings.
“We kind of took it as a revenge game,” Maxwell said. “We stress a lot that when you have a home-and-home like that, you have to get at least one. I think we came out strong and finished strong as well.”
Ryan Murray also added three assists, and Kent Simpson made 37 saves in goal for Everett (18-20-2-4).
Travis Toomey scored both his goals in the third period to lead Seattle (18-18-4-4), which nearly rallied from the dead. The T-birds never caught the Tips, but they pulled within one on four different occasions.
Burke Gallimore, Brenden Dillon and Marcel Noebels also scored for the T-birds. Calvin Pickard stopped 31 shots in net for Seattle.
Everett led 3-0 at the end of the first period. It could have been 6-0 with the way the Tips dominated and created scoring chances. Only some huge saves by Pickard kept the game from getting out of hand. Maxwell opened the scoring at 10 minutes, 35 seconds when he banked a wraparound off Pickard. Then Harrison scored his first two goals as a Silvertip, the second coming on the power play with just 3.3 seconds remaining in the period.
However, Seattle got a five-on-three early in the second period and essentially converted on both ends to change the game’s momentum, Gallimore scoring on a back-door one-timer on the five-on-three and Dillon putting a bullet into the top corner just as the five-on-four ended. The T-birds took control of the game from there, and although Maxwell made it 4-2, Noebels scored with just nine-tenths of a second remaining in the period to make it a one-goal game going into the third.
In the third Maxwell twice stretched Everett’s lead back to two, just for Toomey to pull Seattle back within one each time. Toomey’s tipped goal with Pickard pulled for an extra attacker made it 6-5 with 2:18 remaining.
Seattle pulled Pickard again, and Everett had three great chances at the empty net go just wide. Everett’s victory was finally secured when Toomey was whistled for elbowing with 28.4 seconds remaining.
Silvertips 6, Thunderbirds 5
Seattle 0 3 2 — 5
Everett 3 1 2 — 6
First Period—1, Everett, Maxwell 26, 10:35. 2, Everett, Harrison 14 (Ferraro, Murray), 15:49. 3, Everett, Harrison 15 (Murray, Maxwell), 19:56 (pp). Penalties—Button, Seattle (tripping), 19:29.
Second Period—4, Seattle, Gallimore 24 (Noebels, Jacobs), 5:32 (pp). 5, Seattle, Dillon 5 (Alos, Lund), 7:18. 6, Everett, Maxwell 27 (Ferraro, Harrison), 11:27. 7, Seattle, Noebels 14, 19:59. Penalties—Maxwell, Everett (elbowing), 4:04; Everett bench (too many men, served by Birkholz), 5:17; Lund, Seattle (slashing), 17:56; Harrison, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:56.
Third Period—8, Everett, Maxwell 28 (Murray, Harrison), 3:35. 9, Seattle, Toomey 12 (Gallimore, Button), 4:11. 10, Everett, Maxwell 29 (Ferraro, Simpson), 8:21. 11, Seattle, Toomey 13 (Gallimore), 17:42. Penalties—
Shots on goal—Seattle 11-18-13—42. Everett 18-11-8—37. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 1 of 2. Everett 1 of 3.
Goalies—Seattle, Pickard 18-16-3-4 (37 shots, 31 saves). Everett, Simpson 12-14-2-4 (42 shots, 37 saves).
A—8,344.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
