PORTLAND, Ore. — The playoff series between the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks began at 7 p.m. Saturday night at the Rose Garden.
The Tips didn’t show up until 7:45, and by then it was too late.
The combination of a dominating first period by Portland and a disastrous first period by Everett was too much for the Tips to overcome, and Everett fell 4-0 to the Winterhawks in its playoff opener.
Everett was a mess during the first period, particularly during the first 10 minutes. Coupled with Portland being in full flow from the start, and the Tips found themselves behind 3-0 little more than eight minutes into the game.
The Tips picked up their play considerably in the final two periods, outshooting the Winterhawks and creating several scoring chances. However, the puck just didn’t want to find the net for Everett, and the Tips were left ruing the opening fiasco.
“They came out strong,” Tips captain Landon Ferraro, making his return from a groin injury, said about the Winterhawks. “We knew they were going to, but they got some pressure on us early. I don’t want to say we weren’t ready for it. I think they got on us and we didn’t try to re-attack, we tried to just maintain what was coming at us instead of bringing it back at them.
“Against a team like this, you have to attack them,” Ferraro continued. “That’s when they get frustrated and start making their mistakes. We started doing it a little bit in the second and third. Just looking at that we have to make sure we come out strong right from the beginning (today).”
Ryan Johansen had a goal and two assists for the top-seeded and heavily-favored Winterhawks, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series against the eighth-seeded Tips. Riley Boychuk, Brendan Leipsic and Brad Ross also scored for Portland, while Mac Carruth stopped all 32 shots he faced in goal.
“We wanted to make sure we had a great start, especially at home,” Johansen said about Portland’s dominating opening period, in which the Winterhawks outshot the Tips 19-3. “The fans made us really energized out there. The first 10 minutes was just textbook and we just made sure we shut down the rest of the game, didn’t give them any odd-man chances, and Mac played really well at the back end when they did get chances.”
Everett was again without No. 1 goaltender Kent Simpson. The Tips were holding out hope that Simpson, who’s been out since Mar. 4 because of a sprained ankle, would recover in time for Game 1. However, Simpson was scratched, meaning Luke Siemens lined up in net for Everett. Siemens finished with 41 saves.
Game 2 is tonight, again at the Rose Garden.
Portland came into the series as the heavy favorite, and it took the Winterhawks little time to show why as Portland treated the Tips like pee-wees during a badly one-sided first period.
The carnage began just 3:46 into the game when Everett’s Brennan Yadlowski and Manraj Hayer took penalties on the same play, giving Portland a full two minutes of five-on-three. The Winterhawks cashed in a minute later, Boychuk putting the puck under Siemens from close range following two good saves.
That started the flood. Portland made it 2-0 at 7:26 when Leipsic shoveled a backhander toward goal that eluded Siemens and slipped into the corner. Then just 41 seconds later it was 3-0, a bad giveaway by Yadlowski presenting Johansen with a short-handed breakaway that Johansen put under Siemens.
Given Everett’s offensive shortcomings, that stretch essentially decided the contest with more than 51 minutes remaining.
Everett finally showed up in the second period and created some scoring chances. But Carruth denied Markus McCrea when McCrea was free on goal, Josh Winquist hit the post, and it remained 3-0.
The Tips kept their game elevated in the third, but Everett shot wide on its best chances, and Ross applied the finishing touch at 12:28, putting in a rebound after Ryan Murray had cleared off the goal line.
“We certainly stayed with it and we had our chances,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “They’re going to get their chances, we know that, but I thought tonight after the first period we had some good chances.
We’re struggling to finish. If we finish or get a lucky bounce, maybe it’s a different game down the stretch.”
Everett is hoping the improved play in the final two periods serves as a boost for tonight’s Game 2.
“The good thing about the playoffs is it doesn’t matter if you lose 1-0 or 10-1,” Ferraro said. “It’s a brand new game tomorrow. They just get one game out of this, so when we come back tomorrow we have to make sure we get a win and go back to our building with a 1-1 series.”
Winterhawks 4, Silvertips 0
Everett 0 0 0 — 0
Portland 3 0 1 — 4
First Period—1, Portland, (Johansen, Niederreiter), 4:46 (pp). 2, Portland, Leipsic 1 (Boychuk), 7:26. 3, Portland, Johansen 1, 8:07 (sh). Penalties—Yadlowski, Everett (hooking), 3:56; Hayer, Everett (tripping), 3:56; Ferraro, Everett (roughing), 7:48; Boychuk, Portland (goaltender interference), 7:48; Peters, Portland (roughing), 7:48; Carruth, Portland (roughing, served by Swenson), 12:09; Yadlowski, Everett (hooking), 14:34.
Second Period—no goals. Penalties—Rissanen, Everett (tripping), 4:13; Boychuk, Portland (interference), 15:34; Morrow, Portland (cross checking), 19:14.
Third Period—4, Portland, Ross 1 (Niederreiter, Johansen), 12:28. Penalties—Maxwell, Everett (roughing), 5:30; Rattie, Portland (roughing), 5:30; Elynuik, Everett (roughing), 15:18.
Shots on goal—Everett 3-16-13—32. Portland 19-12-14—45. Power-play opportunities—Everett 0 of 4. Portland 1 of 5.
Goalies—Everett, Siemens 0-1 (45 shots, 41 saves). Portland, Carruth 1-0 (32 shots, 32 saves).
A—8,363.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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