EVERETT – There was something missing from the Everett Silvertips’ game Tuesday night. Passes sailed just beyond reach, pucks were mishandled at key moments and mistakes were made at the game’s most critical junctures.
Now, with a shot at the U.S. Division title hanging in the balance, Everett coach Kevin Constantine is looking for the Silvertips to find a little character.
The Silvertips began a brutal week in exactly the wrong way, losing 2-0 to the Kamloops Blazers in a Western Hockey League game before a crowd of 4,484 at the Everett Events Center.
Jarret Lukin capitalized on an Everett mistake to score the game-winning goal shorthanded midway through the third period, and Geoff McIntosh made 22 saves as Everett (29-23-8-2), beginning a stretch of five games in six days, was shut out for the fifth time this season.
“What athletes at this age need to do is develop the character that withstands a little bit of frustration,” Constantine said. “You can’t be negative at those times, you can’t try to do something out of your character, you can’t try to take the game on yourself. We’ve done that a little in the last few games where out of frustration we’ve stepped out of our team plan. That’s kind of the growth our team needs, to learn to be more mature in those situations.”
Despite not being at their sharpest, the Silvertips still found themselves in position to win late in the game thanks to solid goaltending from Michael Wall. However, with Everett on the power play with 10 minutes remaining, Tyler Dietrich’s errant pass went straight to Kamloops’ Cam Cunning and gave the Blazers a two-on-one. Cunning, running the break to perfection, drew both Wall and the defender to the left, then fed Lukin on the right for a one-timer into an open net at 10:14.
“I think the frustration of our power play not scoring got to our guys, then they tried to do too much and handed them a two-on-one,” said Constantine, whose team was 0-for-6 on the power play one game after being a frustrating 1-for-10 in a 4-1 loss to Vancouver.
“I thought they kind of beat us at our game,” Constantine added. “They played tight, didn’t give us a ton, got good goaltending and waited for us to make a mistake. Normally that’s us, being patient and taking what’s given.”
Rick Kozak added an insurance goal for Kamloops (30-26-7-2) with 27.2 seconds remaining, stealing the puck at the Everett blue line and coolly finishing into the upper corner. That polished off the victory for a Blazers team that was completely transformed from the one that lost 4-1 in Everett three weeks earlier.
“Last time we let our emotions get the best of us,” Kamloops coach Dean Clark said. “We got tied up in the pushing and the shoving and we never really got our game on track. At that time we weren’t a very confident hockey club. Every time something bad happened to us we didn’t think we could get anything positive happening. Since then we’ve played a lot better and we seem to have a lot more confidence as a team than we did back then.”
Wall finished with 24 saves in goal for Everett which, thanks to Seattle’s 2-1 victory over Tri-City on Tuesday, remained three points behind the Americans for first place in the division. But now the Silvertips must survive a stretch of four games in five days in four different cities, beginning tonight in Kelowna with a game against the winningest team in the WHL.
Slap shots: The flu bug continues to circulate through the Silvertips, forcing Everett to dress just 19 Tuesday. Right wing Torrie Wheat was back in the lineup after missing the last two games because of the flu, but forward Martin Ruzicka remained sidelined by illness and was joined on the sick list by forward Jovan Matic. … Everett No. 1 goalie Jeff Harvey missed his sixth game out of the last seven with an injured hip muscle. Fifteen-year-old Leland Irving served as the backup to Wall and is expected to be on the bench again today in Kelowna before returning home to Spruce Grove, Alberta. Sixteen-year-old Kurt Jory from Brandon, Manitoba, will join the team today in Kelowna and will replace Irving as goalie cover over the weekend. … Kamloops enforcer Paul Brown was scratched because of a bruised foot suffered Saturday at Prince George.
First Period-No goals. Second Period-No goals. Third Period-1, Kamloops, Lukin 18 (Cunning), 10:14 (sh). 2, Kamloops, Kozak 11, 19:33. Shots on goal-Kamloops 11-10-5-26. Everett 7-9-6-22. Power-play opportunities-Kamloops 0 of 4. Everett 0 of 6. Goalies-Kamloops, McIntosh 11-21-6 (22 shots, 22 saves). Everett, Wall 9-10-3 (26 shots, 24 saves). |
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