EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips were missing in action for the first half of Friday night’s game against the Spokane Chiefs.

By the time they arrived in earnest, the hole was too deep.

Everett mounted a spirited comeback, but the Tips fell short, losing 4-3 to the Spokane Chiefs at Comcast Arena.

Tyler Johnson had a goal and two assists to lead Spokane, which dominated the game’s first 30 minutes and led 4-1 at the midpoint.

Everett rallied behind Ryan Murray’s two goals and pulled back within one going into the third period. However, the Tips couldn’t get a bounce in the third, and as a result Everett slipped from second place in the U.S. Division.

“We made a game out of it after we cleared the fog out of our heads,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We certainly weren’t ready to play a hockey game in the first period. They were a lot more ready than we were. We started to play a little bit in the second half of the game and had a chance to get something out of it, but we didn’t.”

Everett is now two points behind Portland, a 5-2 winner in Prince George on Friday, in the three-way race for second in the division. Meanwhile, Spokane pulled within three points of the Tips for third. Whichever of those three teams ends the season in fourth will have to travel for the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s a battle, for sure,” Hartsburg said. “It’s going to be a battle all the way to the end. And you know what, I’m not sure there’s any reward for it at the end, other than home ice because whoever you play in the first round is going to be a good team.”

Brady Brassart, Jared Spurgeon and Corbin Baldwin also scored for Spokane (33-20-3-1). Michael Tadjdeh, getting the start in goal for the Chiefs after No. 1 netminder James Reid was pulled in each of Spokane’s previous two games in Everett, earned the win with 23 saves.

Byron Froese scored the other goal for the Tips (35-19-2-1), who were playing in front of their families for parents weekend. Starting goalie Kent Simpson allowed three goals on seven shots before being pulled midway through the first period. Thomas Heemskerk was the tough-luck loser, stopping 26 of 27 in relief.

When the teams met last Saturday at Comcast Arena, Everett dominated the game with a fierce forecheck during a 5-1 victory. For the first 30 minutes of Friday’s game, it was the exact opposite as Spokane’s forecheck kept the Tips on their heels. Throw in some undisciplined Everett penalties, which led to a pair of Spokane power-play goals, and the Chiefs threatened to run away with it.

The Tips responded positively after falling behind 4-1, but the three-goal deficit proved too large to overcome.

“I think the last 24 hours, their parents are here, they may have been a little distracted all day today and they didn’t come with the right focus,” Hartsburg said. “Once they started to focus and do things right they started to have success. We’re the type of team that has to play every shift, every guy, and tonight we only played half a game, so we didn’t get much in the way of results out of it.”

Spokane opened the scoring 2 minutes, 3 seconds into the game. Johnson got behind the defense and fed the puck out front, where Brassart snapped it past Simpson to make it 1-0.

Everett tied it on the power play at 6:03, when Murray fired a slap shot from the center point into the corner to make it 1-1.

But the Tips started taking undisciplined penalties and the Chiefs made them pay. Spokane regained the lead on its first power play at 9:34, Spurgeon scoring when Johnson’s shot rebounded off the post and into the slot. Then the Chiefs scored on their second power play at 11:02, Spurgeon’s centering feed redirected into the far corner. Johnson was credited with the goal, and Simpson was sent to the bench.

It looked like the Chiefs were home free when Mitch Wahl fed Baldwin pinching in from the point, and Baldwin rattled a shot past Heemskerk to give the Chiefs a 4-1 lead 9:35 into the second period.

However, the Tips responded with two goals in two minutes to make a game of it. Murray potted his second of the game at 12:33, one-timing a long rebound into the top corner. Then Everett made it a one-goal game again on the power play at 14:26, a tic-tac-toe passing move ending with Froese scoring into an unguarded net to make it 4-3.

Everett had chances to tie it in the third. Scott MacDonald was played in free on the rush, but Tadjdeh made an acrobatic save. Then on a late power play Froese pulled the puck around Tadjdeh, but fired wide.

Chiefs 4, Silvertips 3

Spokane310—4

Everett120—3

First Period — 1, Spokane, Brassart 6 (Johnson, Kichton), 2:03. 2, Everett, Murray 4 (Gudas, Langkow), 6:03 (pp). 3, Spokane, Spurgeon 7 (Johnson, Beach), 9:34 (pp). 4, Spokane, Johnson 26 (Spurgeon, Wahl), 11:02 (pp). Penalties — Wahl, Spokane (high sticking), 3:14; Gal, Spokane (cross checking), 5:21; Rissanen, Everett (interference), 9:02; Gudas, Everett (hooking), 10:48; Tochkin, Everett (roughing), 18:33.

Second Period — 5, Spokane, Baldwin 2 (Wahl), 9:35. 6, Everett, Murray 5 (MacDonald, Cumiskey), 12:33. 7, Everett, Froese 23 (Maxwell, Tochkin), 14:26 (pp). Penalties — Wahl, Spokane (cross checking), 12:59.

Third Period — no goals. Penalties — Tochkin, Everett (cross checking), 1:29; Gal, Spokane (high sticking), 18:35.

Shots on goal — Spokane 18-9-7 — 34. Everett 8-5-13 — 26. Power-play opportunities — Spokane 2 of 4. Everett 2 of 4.

Goalies — Spokane, Tadjdeh 6-7-0-0 (26 shots, 23 saves). Everett, Simpson (7 shots, 4 saves), Heemskerk 18-10-1-1 (27 shots, 26 saves). A — 6,031.

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