Rockets down Tips

KELOWNA, British Columbia — In defeat Saturday night, Everett Silvertips coach Kevin Constantine saw more positives than in victory Friday night.

Yes, the Silvertips dropped a hard-fought 2-1 contest to Kelowna, which evened the best-of-seven series for the WHL Western Conference championship at a game apiece, but the signs were encouraging.

Most came on the defensive end, the backbone of the Silvertips’ amazing season. While they allowed a whopping 38 Rockets shots in their 3-2 victory Friday night, Everett allowed just 21 Saturday before a crowd of 5,869 fans at Prospera Place. The Silvertips were more physical, flew around the ice with more vigor and were much tighter in the stop department.

"We didn’t think we had a chance to win, giving up 20 good scoring chances and 38 shots," Constantine said. "I think the guys competed a lot harder and we were just better when we didn’t have the puck tonight.

Trouble was, so was Kelowna, the defending Memorial Cup champion and best defensive team in the league.

Kelowna’s fine goaltender, Kelly Guard was uncharacteristically off in giving up three goals in Friday’s loss to Everett, but he made up for it Saturday. Guard was solid, turning away 13 of 14 Everett shots on goal.

The series returns to Everett for Games 3 and 4, Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

"Both teams played a more consistent game for 60 minutes," Constantine said. "There weren’t as many scoring opportunities for either team. Tonight, we didn’t give up nearly as much. Tonight, we didn’t generate enough."

Everett had just 14 shots on goal, but that’s almost to be expected against a Rockets defense that gave up a WHL-record-low 125 goals in the regular season. In many ways, the Rockets and the Silvertips mirror each other in their core objectives: Staunch defense, spectacular goaltending and opportunistic offense.

"It was a tough one, but we got a split," Everett defenseman Mitch Love said. "We came here to win two games, but we’re going home, and it’s going to be crazy at the Everett Evens Center."

The difference may well have been a survival factor. The Rockets didn’t want to repeat the start they had in the conference semifinal against the Tri-City Americans, losing the first two games at home, even if they did sweep the next four contests to win.

Kelowna’s fury showed early; the Rockets came out of the locker room more physical, swarming and hitting at a much higher intensity level than they ever did Friday night. On Kelowna’s first shot, 15 seconds into the game, Mike Card scored on a wrist shot to give the Rockets a 1-0 lead.

Everett withstood the onslaught, though, and Silvertips left wing Marc Desloges slapped in a power-play goal 11:20 into the period. The game remained 1-1 going into the first intermission.

The Silvertips managed just two shots in the second period. One, a slap shot by Martin Ruzicka with eight minutes remaining, clanged the goal post and ricocheted off.

The Rockets took advantage.

Still creating a multitude of offensive opportunities, Kelowna went ahead 2-1 with a backhanded rebound shot near the left post by Troy Bodie 6:28 into the period. The goal came on a delayed penalty. Guard came off the ice, creating six Rockets skaters, and Kelowna cashed in.

The Rockets nearly scored twice more, but the near-goals were waved off by officials.

The Silvertips made several threats on a power play 7:17 into the period, but Guard and his defensemen, namely Brett Palin and Josh Gorges, turned them away.

The Silvertips pulled goalie Jeff Harvey at various times in the last three minutes to use an additional attacker, but Kelowna’s defense blanketed every opportunity.

"We just have to outwork them in front of their net," Desloges said, when asked what the team could do to generate more offense. "If we do that, we can create more chances."

At Kelowna, B.C.