Silvertips explode, set franchise record for goals in a game

EVERETT — It seemed an innocuous little chip in the dam.

Tyler Maxwell got the Everett Silvertips on the board with just 2.8 seconds remaining in the first period. But did it really mean anything? The Tips still trailed the Portland Winterhawks by two goals, and they looked in need of a traffic cop the way they were skating around in confusion.

But put a crack in a dam in just the right spot and the water pressure will cause it to crumble, and that small little chink was all the Tips needed to break through and create a deluge no one was expecting.

Everett scored nine unanswered goals — that’s right, NINE — and the Tips went on to swamp the Winterhawks 10-4 Sunday night at Comcast Arena.

Everett scored the first seven of those goals during a span of less than 22 minutes to turn the game into a blowout — just in the opposite direction it originally appeared to be heading. The 10 goals were a franchise record for goals in a game, eclipsing the nine the Tips put past the Winterhawks on Jan. 26, 2007 in Portland

“Wow!” was Maxwell’s reaction. “Ten goals is a lot of goals. We were really special offensively tonight and I think we finally jelled as a team.”

Maxwell, Rasmus Rissanen and Chris Langkow each scored twice, Shane Harper and Alex Theriau tallied four points apiece, and Everett (3-2-0-0) produced an unlikely result against a Portland team that’s been playing as well as any in the WHL.

Harper, Byron Froese, Kellan Tochkin and Radko Gudas scored the other goals for Everett, which can credit its power play for getting back into the game. The Tips converted on each of their first three power plays. Rissanen’s power-play goal at 11:10 of the second period tied it, and Maxwell’s five-on-three goal 2:21 later gave the Tips the lead.

But if it wasn’t for Maxwell’s first goal, when he snapped a shot past Portland goaltender Kurtis Mucha off the rush on another Everett power play, the Tips may never have found the wherewithal to push through the barrier.

“There’s two things that happened that were key,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “Maxwell scored to give us some life. Then when (Portland’s Tayler Jordan) came off the bench to go fight Gudas (at 12:41 of the second with the score tied 3-3) I think it really woke our guys up. They kind of took offense to that. Emotionally we needed something to happen to get us really into playing hockey because we’ve had so much time off, and I think that helped change the game as well.”

Nino Niederreiter, Stefan Schneider, Ryan Johansen and Chris Francis scored for Portland (7-3-0-0), which was playing its fourth game in five nights, while Everett was playing its first game of the weekend.

“They got that goal at the end of the first period with two seconds left, and they got the goal at the end of the second period with three seconds left (scored by Tochkin). Those were two key goals in the game that gave them extra momentum,” Portland coach Mike Johnston said. “Then we were playing our fourth game in five nights, and I didn’t think physically we were tired, but mentally we made tired mistakes.”

Everett seemed dead and buried after a dreadful first 13 minutes that saw the rattled Tips fall behind 3-0. The first two, scored by Niederreiter 3:12 into the game and by Schneider at 7:25, chased Everett starting goaltender Thomas Heemskerk to the bench after facing just four shots. It seemed to have little effect when Johansen scored on the power play at 12:50 against Heemskerk’s replacement Kent Simpson.

But Everett came out a different team in the second period after Maxwell cut the deficit to two. The Tips got a fortunate bounce when Froese’s centering pass banked in off traffic in front to make it 3-2 at 5:58. Rissanen tied it when he cut in from the right point and fired a shot past Mucha. Maxwell then scored his second, sweeping a shot past Mucha from a tight angle to give Everett the lead.

A great counterattacking move with time winding down in the period consolidated Everett’s lead, Maxwell and Froese combining to set up Tochkin in transition with 3.3 seconds remaining.

“Our whole thing this week has been staying positive no matter what,” Maxwell said about Everett’s ability to bounce back, “so I think we did a great job of that, both in the locker room and on the bench.”

Langkow and Gudas then scored in the first two minutes of the third period to chase Mucha end any thoughts of another change in momentum.

Silvertips 10, Winterhawks 4

Portland301—4

Everett145—10

First Period—1, Portland, Niederreiter 4 (Johnston, Ross), 3:12. 2, Portland, Schneider 3 (Ponich, Jordan), 7:25. 3, Portland, Johansen 4 (Ross, Niederreiter), 12:50 (pp). 4, Everett, Maxwell 3 (Tochkin, Theriau), 19:57 (pp). Penalties—Van de Velde, Everett (checking from behind), 3:38; Murray, Everett (slashing), 11:44; Reddin, Portland (elbowing), 18:13.

Second Period—5, Everett, Froese 2 (Tochkin), 5:58. 6, Everett, Rissanen 1 (Harper, Theriau), 11:10 (pp). 7, Everett, Maxwell 4 (Murray, Theriau), 13:31 (pp). 8. Everett, Tochkin 2 (Maxwell, Froese), 19:56. Penalties—Ross, Portland (hooking), 10:56; Jordan, Portland (instigator-fighting-10-minute misconduct), 12:41; Gudas, Everett (fighting), 12:41; Walker, Portland (tripping), 12:51; Boychuk, Portland (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:56; Abney, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:56.

Third Period—9, Everett, Langkow 1 (Harper, Murray), 0:27. 10, Everett, Gudas 4, 1:36. 11, Everett, Langkow 2 (Harper, McCrea), 11:37. 12, Everett, Harper 3 (Langkow, Theriau), 16:34. 13, Portland, Francis 5 (Bennett), 17:39. 14, Everett, Rissanen 2 (McGrath, Sohor), 18:38 (pp). Penalties—Ross, Portland (roughing-unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:54; Theriau, Everett (roughing), 1:54; Rissanen, Everett (tripping), 4:42; Ponich, Portland (fighting), 7:15; Abney, Everett (fighting), 7:15; Niederreiter, Portland (roughing), 9:26; Aronson, Portland (fighting), 12:28; Dailey, Everett (cross checking-fighting), 12:28; Harper, Everett (hooking), 13:50; Rattie, Portland (roughing), 15:57; Rissanen, Everett (roughing), 15:57; Ross, Portland (roughing-10-minute misconduct), 18:09; Johnston, Portland (interference), 18:30; Rutkowski, Portland (fighting), 19:54; Walker, Portland (10-minute misconduct), 19:54; Elynuik, Everett (fighting), 19:54; Abney, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 19:54.

Shots on goal—Portland 12-6-12—30. Everett 12-14-14—40. Power-play opportunities—Portland 1 of 5. Everett 4 of 8.

Goalies—Portland, Mucha 3-2-0-0 (28 shots, 21 saves), Curtis (12 shots, 9 saves). Everett, Heemskerk (4 shots, 2 saves), Simpson (26 shots, 24 saves).

A—4,276.

Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog