EVERETT — Where the Everett Silvertips have struggled this season has varied from game to game.
When they’ve struggled is a little easier to pin down.
So far this season, Everett’s greatest obstacle hasn’t been offense, defense or penalties, all of which have had their ups and downs. No, Everett’s greatest obstacle has been the second period.
Everett has outscored its opponents 9-4 in the first period and the Tips have a respectable record of being outscored just 9-8 in the third.
But the second is where the damage has been done as Everett’s opponents have outscored the Tips 13-3 in the period.
“We’ve tried to fix some things and we feel we’ve fixed some things,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “Although we’re not giving up as much chance wise, we’re still getting scored against. We’ve had leads in the second period against pretty good hockey teams, which are difficult to hold off the score sheet. But we’ve got to be better at that.”
The Tips chalk part of the problem up to the team’s inexperience. With 11 rookies on the team, many of the players are still learning how to compete at this level.
“Our starts have been outstanding,” Becanic explained. “Young guys, they get a little overconfident and get into that second and think it’s going to be pretty easy. And coaches are good in this league. They make their adjustments, they go in and rip their team, then they come out and they’re a better team. That’s what’s happened in a lot of games.”
The key to changing that trend is to maintain intensity throught the entire game.
“We come out pretty strong in the first, but I think guys get a little lackadasical and don’t work as hard in the second period,” Everett captain Zack Dailey said. “Then we get yelled at and in the third we pick it up again. We’ve got to make sure we’re not too comfortable after the first and come out with the same intensity every period.”
Injury update: Everett will be missing two regulars when it travels to Vancouver to play the Giants tonight.
Defenseman Graham Potuer remains sidelined with a concussion. Potuer, who suffered the concussion on Oct. 3 at Spokane and has missed two games so far, has resumed practicing with the team. However, he has not yet been cleared to return to games. Left wing Jordan Mistelbacher is also out after tweaking an ankle Saturday at Spokane.
The Tips hope both are ready for Friday’s home game against Kelowna.
Tips list Barnstable: Everett has added former Vancouver goaltender Kraymer Barnstable to its 50-player protected list.
Barnstable, an 18-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., served as Tyson Sexsmith’s backup last season, going 6-4-0-0 with a 2.45 goals against average and .886 save percentage in 14 games. However, Barnstable was dropped by the Giants after being beat out by 17-year-old Jamie Tucker for the backup job this season.
“He gives us somebody in case there’s an emergency situation,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “We don’t have any other goaltenders in the system other than a 15-year-old (Ryan Cadieux), so if Shayne Barrie or Kent Simpson went down injured we would have been in scramble mode.”
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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