Reader poll: Sunday’s result

The Tips suffered their first heavy defeat of the season Sunday when they were blown out 7-1 in Portland.

There were a lot of circumstances heading into the game that suggested something like that might happen. It was a three-in-three weekend for Everett, its first of the season. The Tips had three players out injured, meaning the same 20 players had to play each game, including a fourth line containing two defensemen. The first two games of the weekend both went as long as possible, reaching a shootout. Sunday’s game was a 5 p.m. start following a bus ride, meaning the Tips had less ability to recover. Undoubtedly Everett was fatigued, and on top of that Portland had Saturday night off to rest up for the Tips.

That said, the Tips didn’t exactly play great in beating Portland 4-3 in a shootout on Friday and beating Kamloops in a shootout 3-2 on Saturday. One could say the Tips were fortunate to come away with four points from those two games. And getting beat 7-1 isn’t a good thing, no matter what the circumstances.

So …