EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips generated plenty of shots in their preseason opener Friday at Xfinity Arena.
So did the Tri-City Americans.
And, it was the Americans who connected on more of them as Tri-City knocked off Everett 9-4 before several hundred fans in the nightcap of the first day of the Delta Hotels Preseason Holiday Classic.
Nolan Yaremko and Sasha Mutala each had a hat trick, and Morgan Geekie scored twice to lead the Americans despite Everett’s 39-35 shot advantage.
“I do think a lot of their opportunities came from some of our poor choices with the puck and our decisions, which are always correctable,” Everett head coach Dennis Williams said. “We’re going to get back at it and there’s obviously still a lot we need to learn and grow as a group, but that’s what exhibition is all about.”
Patrick Bajkov had two goals and an assist for Everett.
Trailing 6-2 through two periods, Riley Sutter potted a goals for the Tips at 2:28 in the third. However, Parker AuCoin answered less than a minute later to put Tri-City back up by four. Jake Christiansen scored Everett’s final goal with a slap shot through traffic at 6:54, and Geekie scored the game’s final two goals.
“I thought the first period we really came hard at them,” Williams said. “I was real happy with our effort. You could definitely see they came out with another level in the second that I thought we had a hard time matching. They have some big forwards up there, as you mentioned, with a lot of skill.”
Tri-City took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, but Bajkov tied it for Everett at 1:05 in the second.
That was essentially the only highlight in the period for the Tips as the Americans scored four unanswered goals to take a commanding 6-2 lead after two periods. Mutala gave Tri-City the lead at 3:17 when he poked the puck past Dorrin Luding in a net-front scrum, and added his second just 53 seconds later when he redirected a point shot. Yaremko completed his hat trick with a tap-in at 9:18, and Mutala equaled the feat at 15:38.
Yaremko scored a pair of goals in the first period that turned a 1-0 Tri-City deficit into a 2-1 lead. His first goal came six minutes in when he waited out Luding a roofed a shot. The second came at 18:45 when he stole an Everett breakout pass and flicked a backhander past Luding for a 2-1 advantage.
The Silvertips struck just 16 seconds into the game. Matt Fonteyne dug the puck out of a scrum and found linemate Bajkov at the net front who potted the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Everett plays its second preseason game against the Seattle Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Americans 9, Silvertips 4
Tri-City 2 4 3 – 9
Everett 1 1 2 – 4
1st Period-1, Everett, Bajkov 1 (Fonteyne, Walker), 0:16. 2, Tri-City, Yaremko 1 (Krebs, Stewart), 6:00. 3, Tri-City, Yaremko 2 (James), 18:45. Penalties-Yaremko T.c (boarding), 1:30; Johnson T.c (misconduct – mouthguard), 6:00; Brown T.c (interference), 7:00; Onyebuchi Evt (elbowing), 14:10; Martin Evt (hooking), 16:19.
2nd Period-4, Everett, Bajkov 2 (Fonteyne, Dewar), 1:05. 5, Tri-City, Mutala 1 (Geekie, Leason), 3:17. 6, Tri-City, Mutala 2 (Coghlan, Leason), 4:10. 7, Tri-City, Yaremko 3 (Rasmussen, AuCoin), 9:18 (PP). 8, Tri-City, Mutala 3 (Leason, Bouchard), 15:38. Penalties-Vitelli Evt (tripping), 7:52; Mutala T.c (high sticking), 18:58.
3rd Period-9, Everett, Sutter 1 2:28. 10, Tri-City, AuCoin 1 3:00. 11, Everett, Christiansen 1 (Bajkov), 6:52. 12, Tri-City, Geekie 1 (Brown, Gatenby), 16:44. 13, Tri-City, Geekie 2 (Leason, Krebs), 18:07. Penalties-Sutter Evt (checking from behind), 7:28; served by Browne Evt (too many men), 8:42; Coghlan T.c (tripping), 14:28.
Shots on Goal-Tri-City 5-16-14-35. Everett 16-14-9-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Tri-City 1 / 5; Everett 0 / 4.
Goalies-Tri-City, Warm 1-0-0-0 (38 shots-35 saves). Everett, Luding 0-1-0-0 (33 shots-26 saves).
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