EVERETT — Goal scoring has been a challenge for the Everett Silvertips all season long.
Tuesday night the Tri-City Americans locked up what little offense the Tips possess, and now Everett’s season is on the brink.
Tri-City put the clamps on Everett, making scoring chances as scarce as March sunbreaks in the Pacific Northwest, and the Americans pushed the Tips one game from elimination with a 4-0 victory in Tuesday’s Game 3 at Comcast Arena.
The victory gave Tri-City, the top seed in the WHL’s Western Conference, a 3-0 lead over eighth-seeded Everett in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Only once in WHL history has a team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series, that being when Spokane resurrected from the dead to defeat Portland in 1996.
Game 4 is tonight at Comcast Arena, and it could mark the end of Everett’s season.
“We’re just looking at the next game and that’s it,” Everett captain Ryan Murray said. “We know we have to win from here on out. We’re just focusing on that next game.”
Everett scored the fewest goals during the regular season of any team that made the playoffs, and the Tips were without one of their top offensive performers Tuesday as winger Ryan Harrison served a one-game suspension for his interference major penalty from Saturday’s Game 2.
Meanwhile the Tips were up against the team that allowed the fewest goals during the regular season, and Tri-City showed why that was.
“They did a good job in all areas, getting in shooting lanes and winning the battles,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said of the Americans. “They made it really tough for our guys to get pucks to the net.”
Brendan Shinnimin provided the offense for Tri-City, scoring twice in two minutes early in the second period to break a scoreless deadlock. The Americans took the air out of the game after that as the Tips rarely threatened. Adam Hughesman clinched the victory with a late empty-net goal, and Justin Feser added a fourth during garbage time.
Ty Rimmer posted the shutout in goal for Tri-City stopping all 23 shots he faced.
“We played really well defensively, blocking shots and not giving them much,” Shinnimin said. “They were in our end, but we weren’t giving them any scoring opportunities. That showed character from our team.”
But Shinnimin wasn’t ready to declare the series over just yet.
“Absolutely not,” Shinnimin responded when asked if the series was over. “Everett was missing a couple key guys tonight and they’ll probably be back tomorrow. They’re a team that doesn’t quit, so we’re going to have to bring our best game tomorrow if we want to win the series and win that game tomorrow.”
Kent Simpson finished with 27 saves in goal for Everett.
Everett started brightly, holding Tri-City without a shot on goal for more than eight minutes, and the Tips received a five-minute power play when Tri-City’s Patrick Holland was given a major penalty and game misconduct for clipping. However, Tri-City’s penalty killers dogged the Tips, preventing Everett from even getting established in the offensive zone as the Tips managed just one shot on goal during the five minutes.
“We had our opportunity on the power play and they did a good job,” Ferner said. “I think if we had created something or gotten a goal, then momentum’s on our side. But they did a good job killing it off and momentum turned to them.”
And it doesn’t take much of an opening for Shinnimin. The league’s scoring champion broke the scoreless deadlock 1:41 into the second, converting at the back door on the rush after a seeing-eye feed from Hughesman. Then Shinnimin made it 2-0 at 3:21, taking advantage of an untimely Everett line change to put a shot through Simpson from the top of the circles.
Everett didn’t get anything going offensively until pulling Simpson for an extra attacker with 2:23 remaining. The Tips had a brief flurry, but Rimmer made a couple nice saves before Hughesman clinched it with a clever lifted backhander from the neutral zone into the empty net.
Slap shots
Everett also played without center Manraj Hayer. Hayer was suspended for a double-minor for checking from behind during Saturday’s Game 2. The length of the suspension is still to be determined. … Everett defenseman Nick Walters was unable to play Tuesday. Walters was considered questionable because of a lower-body injury. … Tri-City played without veteran defenseman Drydn Dow. Dow suffered a broken arm on the hit from Hayer and has been ruled out six-to-eight weeks. … Americans winger and former Tip Jesse Mychan left the game early in the second period with an apparent leg injury and did not return.
Americans 4, Silvertips 0
Tri-City022—4
Everett000—0
First Period—no scoring. Penalties—Holland, Tri-City (major-clipping-game misconduct), 13:28.
Second Period—1, Tri-City, Shinnimin 1 (Hughesman), 1:41. 2, Tri-City, Shinnimin 2 (Yuen, Grist), 3:21. Penalties—Barnett, Everett (elbowing), 8:44.
Third Period—3, Tri-City, Hughesman 3 (Yuen), 18:14 (en). 4, Tri-City, Feser 1 (Topping, Ryckman), 18:51. Penalties—none.
Shots on goal—Tri-City 5-19-7—31. Everett 7-6-10—23. Power-play opportunities—Tri-City 0 of 1. Everett 0 of 1.
Goalies—Tri-City, Rimmer 3-0 (23 shots, 23 saves). Everett, Simpson 0-3 (31 shots, 31 saves).
A—2,442.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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