Shootout loss spoils Silvertips’ perfect weekend

EVERETT — A shootout loss isn’t exactly the way the Everett Silvertips wanted to conclude a weekend that featured three games in three days.

But that’s exactly what happened Sunday, and Spokane’s Riley Woods scored on a wrister past Carter Hart for the shootout’s only goal as the Chiefs came back to defeat Everett 4-3 before 4,408 fans at Xfinity Arena.

“This is a game we probably should have had when we look back at it at the end of the season, but the guys battled hard,” Everett defenseman Lucas Skrumeda said. “It’s been a long stretch of hockey, so overall in the context of things, we got five out of six points this weekend. But we probably should have had this one.”

The U.S. Division-leading Silvertips (30-6-7-2, 69 points) lengthened their lead over second-place Tri-City to eight points and moved back into a first-place tie with Prince George and Regina atop the overall Western Hockey League standings.

The Chiefs improved to 20-20-5-2 (45 points) as they came back from two different deficits to force overtime and then win the shootout.

Skrumeda was one of three Tips players to return Sunday from injuries and illnesses of varying lengths. Former Spokane Chief Dominic Zwerger and Devon Skoleski also returned Sunday.

“We played with everybody we could put on the ice (Saturday) night,” head coach Kevin Constantine said, referring to Everett’s 4-2 win at Tri-City.

“Those guys probably had a little bit of rust on their game and a little bit of a conditioning factor,” Constantine continued. “I know Dominic ran out of energy as the game went on. Skrumeda hasn’t really skated all that much — same with Devon. So we didn’t expect them to be perfect, but we also respect that they understood the team was really hurting and they were willing to maybe even come back a day or two or three earlier than maybe they would have otherwise.”

The Tips took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but the Chiefs wasted little time tying it up. Jaret Anderson-Dolan skated behind the the net and found a trailing Kailer Yamamoto, who flicked a wrister past Hart for the game-tying goal just 31 seconds into the third period.

“With a team like that, they have some guys that can hurt you,” Everett forward Patrick Bajkov said. “They have some speed and some skill up front and some big guys back on defense. It would have been nice to get the win, but they played a great game.”

The remainder of the third period was scoreless as the game went into overtime.

Spokane arrived late to the arena and found itself in a 2-0 hole after the opening period. The Chiefs evidently found their legs as Hudson Elynuik got them on the board when he tipped a shot past Hart at 4:40. Woods then tied it when he skated in from the right wing, deked Hart to get the Tips goalie down on the ice, then stuck it past Hart’s glove side to make it 2-2 at 16:30 in the second.

“We’ve got four new guys since the trading deadline and we’re still trying to find ourselves and our identity,” Spokane coach Don Nachbaur said. “We had a little break (in games) and we had three practices this week, and those practices really helped. I think we’re a lot sharper team because of that.”

Skrumeda answered for Everett on the very next shift when he threw a puck toward the net from the high slot that Spokane goalie Jayden Sittler appeared not to see as the Tips reclaimed a 3-2 lead at 16:48.

The Tips opened the scoring with their second-quickest goal of the season on Matt Fonteyne’s one-timer from the left circle just 51 seconds into the opening period. A Kevin Davis shot from the point rebounded off the boards right to Fonteyne who buried it.

Everett pushed it to 2-0 at 6:53. Bajkov made a perfect drop pass to Zwerger on the rush. Zwerger immediately sent it right back to Bajkov to the left of the goal, and Bajkov’s one-timer got past Sittler and gave Bajkov his team-leading 20th goal of the season.

“Sometimes (arriving late) can weigh against you, but I think in our case we just weren’t ready for the pace,” said Nachbaur, whose team was delayed by wintry weather in the pass. “They came at us hard and got a couple breaks. We had one off the end wall, but they made a great play on the second goal. It didn’t seem to bother us, though. We seemed to regroup and got better as the period went on.”

Bajkov finished with a goal and an assist for Everett. Yamamoto recorded the same for Spokane.

The Tips return to action Friday when they play host to the Portland Winterhawks at 7:35 p.m.

For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.

Chiefs 4, Silvertips 3 (SO)

Spokane 0 2 1 0—4

Everett 2 1 0 0—3

First Period—1, Everett, Fonteyne 15 (Davis, Bajkov), 0:51. 2, Everett, Bajkov 20 (Christiansen, Zwerger), 6:57. Penalties-Richards Evt (interference), 7:07; Faith Spo (interference), 16:38.

Second Period—3, Spokane, Elynuik 17 (Yamamoto, McIndoe), 4:00. 4, Spokane, Woods 9 (Yamamoto), 16:30. 5, Everett, Skrumeda 3 16:42. Penalties-No Penalties

Third Period—6, Spokane, Yamamoto 30 (Anderson-Dolan), 0:31. Penalties-Wylie Evt (10-minute misconduct), 0:31; Hamaliuk Spo (interference), 1:40; King Evt (holding), 6:20.

Overtime—No Scoring. Penalties-Smith Spo (hooking), 2:06.

Shootout—Spokane 1 (Woods G, Anderson-Dolan NG, Yamamoto NG), Everett 0 (Tuulola NG, Bajkov NG, Kindopp NG).

Shots on Goal—Spokane 7-6-6-1-1-21. Everett 5-12-5-5-0-27.

Power Play Opportunities—Spokane 0/2; Everett 0/3.

Goalies—Spokane, Sittler 12-9-2-1 (27 shots-24 saves). Everett, Hart 19-4-5-1 (20 shots-17 saves).

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