EVERETT — The manner in which Kootenay Ice goaltender Taylor Dakers played Thursday night against the Everett Silvertips was adventurous, to say the least.
Then perhaps it was fitting the way the winning goal was scored.
John Dahl broke a tie with four minutes, eight seconds remaining, putting in a rebound off a shot from the center line that bounced off Dakers’ mask. The Silvertips added an empty net goal with 25.5 seconds to play and beat the Ice 4-2 in a Western Hockey League game before an Everett Events Center crowd of 3,021.
"You could probably say that we got a pretty good bounce," Dahl said in something of an understatement.
Marc Desloges later added an empty-net goal, his second of the game, and Barry Horman also scored for Everett (13-11-4-1).
Adam Cracknell scored both goals for Kootenay (15-15-1-3).
But it was Dahl’s team-leading 10th goal of the season that proved the difference. The score was tied 2-2 when Everett defenseman Bryan Nathe skated out of his own end and shot towards goal as he crossed the center line. However, the puck took a wicked bounce off the ice and smacked Dakers in the face.
"I just wanted to put the puck on net, maybe get a whistle and force a draw in their own end," Nathe said. "It was just a bouncing puck that went our way."
Dahl snapped up the rebound, put on a couple moves, then slotted the puck between Dakers’ legs for the go-ahead goal.
"I was coming off the bench and I was expecting Bryan Nathe to dump it in," Dahl said. "I didn’t even see it land on net. I guess you could say it was a lucky break for us, and I just took advantage of the chance."
But that lucky chance had been coming. Dakers, Kootenay’s backup goalie, was constantly straying far out of goal, leaving himself out of position. Twice Everett had free shots at empty nets with Dakers nowhere to be found, but David Jacobson shot wide and Nathe had a shot deflected by a defender’s stick.
"At times he tries to overhandle the puck," Kootenay coach Cory Clouston said about Dakers. "He’s got to be a lot smarter about when to go and when not to go."
And Everett made sure Dakers was put to the test, particularly in the third period as the Tips rained down a steady stream of shots. Devin Wilson in particularly was winding up and threatening Dakers’ goal from afar. Everett ended up outshooting Kootenay 32-22.
"When you put a lot of pressure on a team you tend to get a lot of shots, and that was what we were doing tonight," Dahl said. "Once you get a lot of shots on a backup goaltender, chances are you’re going to put a couple pucks in the net at the end of the night. We were pretty much all over him all night, we were working pretty hard as a team and deserved to get that win tonight."
Jeff Harvey, who missed the previous three games because of the flu, returned to net and made 20 saves to earn the win for Everett.
Dakers finished with 28 saves.
Horman gave Everett a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 7:07 of the first period, backhanding a shot over Dakers’ glove from the slot for his seventh goal of the season.
The game then heated up early in the second period with three goals in six minutes. First, Kootenay tied it up at 1:02 when Cracknell was left unmarked in the slot for a one-timer. Then Everett restored its lead when Desloges put in a rebound at 4:32. But Kootenay tied it again when Cracknell scored on a rebound at 6:51.
Slap shots: Kootenay played without forward Nigel Dawes, the WHL’s co-leader in goals. Dawes is attending Canada’s selection camp for the 2004 World Junior Championships. … Everett defenseman Ivan Baranka and Kootenay forward Martin Sagat may have been adversaries Thursday, but they’ll be teammates beginning this weekend. Both Baranka and Sagat leave for their native Slovakia this weekend to join the Slovakian national team for the World Juniors. … The Silvertips are holding their first annual teddy bear toss Saturday against Seattle, where fans are encouraged to throw teddy bears on the ice after each Everett goal. The teddy bears will be donated to the Christmas House and other Snohomish County charities.
At Everett Events Center
First Period—1, Everett, Horman 7 (Baranka, Armstrong), 7:07 (pp). Second Period—2, Kootenay, Cracknell 9 (Mahovsky, Russell), 1:02. 3, Everett, Desloges 4 (Baranka, Heshka), 4:32. 4, Kootenay, Cracknell 10 (Bader, Featherstone), 6:51. Third Period—5, Everett, Dahl 10 (Love, Nathe), 15:52. 6, Everett, Desloges 5, 19:35. Shots on goal—Kootenay 4-9-9—22. Everett 13-7-12—32. Power-play opportunities—Kootenay 0 of 2. Everett 1 of 5. Goalies—Kootenay, Dakers 4-6-0 (31 shots, 28 saves). Everett, Harvey 9-8-2 (22 shots, 20 saves). |
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