EVERETT — It was, perhaps, a fitting epitaph for the Everett Silvertips on what proved to be a disastrous evening.
The Tips received an overtime power play, a four-on-three advantage that further increases the offense’s chances of scoring. Everett also was facing a Prince George Cougars penalty kill ranked dead last in the WHL. Under most circumstances that should equate to a sure game-winner.
Not so for Everett. The Tips passed the puck ineffectually around the perimeter, and despite keeping the puck in the offensive zone the entire two minutes, they failed to carve out a single meaningful offensive chance.
Everett struck out on the power play — again — and the Tips suffered a humiliating 3-2 shootout loss to the league’s worst team.
Prince George came into the game with the league’s worst record, having won just five of its 31 contests. The Cougars also sported the league’s worst penalty kill, eliminating just 67.7 percent of opposing power plays.
However, the Tips were awful on the power play, going scoreless — and practically chanceless — on its seven attempts. Then the Cougars stole the points with a tying goal in the dying moments of regulation, then a 1-0 victory in the shootout.
And the Tips were plunged further into crisis. The loss was Everett’s fifth straight, and the Tips are beginning to lag behind the U.S. Division leaders.
“We’re still dealing with guys who think they can just show up, put their skates on and win,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg lamented. “We’re trying to convince them there had to be an honesty to our game. We didn’t have a lot of honesty tonight.”
Dallas Jackson scored a beauty with 13.8 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, then was the only player to convert in the shootout for Prince George (6-24-1-1). Goaltender Hudson Stremmel then finished it off on Everett’s final attempt in the shootout, poking the puck away from Shane Harper before he even had a chance to shoot.
Marek Viedensky also scored for the Cougars and Stremmel finished with 28 saves.
Cameron Abney and Kellan Tochkin scored for the Tips (16-11-2-1), who lost a golden opportunity to snap their losing skid. Thomas Heemskerk made 21 saves in goal for the Tips.
Everett looked uninspired for much of Friday’s game, perhaps taking the Cougars lightly, and nothing was more uninspired than Everett’s power play. The Tips were static whenever they had the advantage, four players happy to stand around watching the player with the puck. As a result Everett never tested the league’s worst penalty kill.
“We don’t attack,” Hartsburg said about Everett’s power play. “We’re just happy to stay on the outside. We don’t want to attack the net, we don’t want to shoot on the net and get some dirty goals on it. If you don’t do those things on the power play the team will let you stay on the outside the whole game. That’s what happened.”
Nevertheless, it appeared the Tips had won the game when Tochkin snapped a 1-1 tie with 5:13 remaining in regulation. On one of the few occasions where the Tips fought hard in front of the Cougars net, the Tips created a mad scramble and Tochkin was able to force a shot through Stremmel to give Everett a 2-1 lead.
However, the Cougars didn’t quit and they tied it up with just 13.8 seconds remaining. Parker Stanfield had time to set up behind the Everett net, then he fed a wide-open Jackson in the right slot. Jackson snapped a shot into the top of the net to send the game to overtime.
Everett had a golden opportunity to win it in the extra period when Stanfield was called for slashing to give the Tips a four-on-three power play. But just as it had been all game, Everett’s power play was impotent. Everett couldn’t even rely on its strength in shootouts, losing its first shootout in four attempts.
The Tips gave Prince George two five-on-three power plays in the first period, and the Cougars cashed in the second one to go ahead 1-0. Heemskerk was able to turn away shots from Dallas Jackson and Alex Rodgers, but he couldn’t keep out Viedensky on the third attempt at 17 minutes, 36 seconds.
Everett tied it up 7:24 into the second period. Chris Langkow sent a blind backhanded pass out front from along the right boards. Abney, cutting to the middle, redirected it over Stremmel and in to make it 1-1.
Cougars 3, Silvertips 2 (SO)
Prince George1010—3
Everett0110—2
Prince George wins shootout 1-0
First Period—1, Prince George, Viedensky 4 (Rodgers, Jackson), 17:36 (pp). Penalties—Iwanski, Everett (tripping), 0:44; Langkow, Everett (hooking), 2:06; Medland-Marchen, Prince George (cross checking), 5:39; Forsberg, Prince George (instigator-fighting-10-minute misconduct), 9:59; Gudas, Everett (fighting), 9:59; Vlach, Prince George (kneeing), 14:56; Gudas, Everett (tripping), 16:38; Iwanski, Everett (roughing), 17:14; Viedensky, Prince George (tripping), 19:47.
Second Period—2, Everett, Abney 2 (Langkow, Murray), 7:24. Penalties—Bidlevskii, Prince George (hold stick), 15:13; Forsberg, Prince George (roughing), 18:50; Hunt, Everett (roughing), 18:50.
Third Period—3, Everett, Tochkin 8 (Froese, Maxwell), 14:47. 4, Prince George, Jackson 8 (Stanfield, Dobrowolski), 19:46. Penalties—Gibb, Prince George (holding), 3:38; Dailey, Everett (high sticking), 6:53.
Overtime—no goals. Penalties—Stanfield, Prince George (slashing), 1:21.
Shootout—Everett 0 (Maxwell NG, Tochkin NG, Harper NG), Prince George 1 (Vlach NG, Jackson G).
Shots on goal—Prince George 9-3-11-0—23. Everett 8-10-7-5—30. Power-play opportunities—Prince George 1 of 5. Everett 0 of 7.
Goalies—Prince George, Stremmel 1-9-1-0 (30 shots, 28 saves). Everett, Heemskerk 9-6-1-0 (23 shots, 21 saves).
A—4,987.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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