EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips held serve in emphatic fashion Saturday night.
And they did so despite losing their defensive talisman and having no No. 1 goaltender.
Everett snapped a tie by scoring four consecutive goals, and the Tips began their first-round playoff series with a perfect weekend at home after beating the Kelowna Rockets 5-2 Saturday night at Comcast Arena.
Shane Harper scored twice and Chris Langkow and Ryan Murray each added a goal and two assists as Everett took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The series moves to Kelowna for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“This was huge,” Harper said about winning the first two at home. “When you’re playing at home it’s vital to win in the playoffs. We know they play unbelievable in their barn. They’re going to come out even harder than tonight, so it’s not even close to being over. It’s just going to get harder.”
Everett coach Craig Hartsburg shuffled his goaltending deck after only one game, starting Kent Simpson on Saturday after Thomas Heemskerk received the nod in Game 1. Simpson did his part making 24 saves, including a big breakaway stop on Brandon McMillan late in the first period.
The Tips then lost defenseman Radko Gudas to an upper-body injury late in the first period. But even in Gudas’ absence Everett’s defense stymied Kelowna’s offense, with Rockets scoring chances few and far between. Even when Kelowna dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, the Rockets weren’t able to generate any shots on goal.
“It was a gutty effort by them,” Hartsburg said of Everett’s defense. “I thought our forwards really helped a lot, too. That’s going to be key, that they do their job and come back and help, put pressure up ice and spend more time in their end. But those five (defensemen) did a real good job for us.”
Said Murray, Gudas’ regular defensive partner: “It was a little tough, but we just pushed through it out there. We had to be a little conservative with our energy, but we got through it.”
Hartsburg listed Gudas as day-to-day.
As for the goaltending, Hartsburg said he was satisfied with how both Heemskerk and Simpson played this weekend and has not decided who will get the start in Game 3.
Markus McCrea scored the other goal for Everett, which withstood a 10-minute span of furious Kelowna pressure to begin the game. The Tips also did not retaliate when the Rockets got rough, receiving six power plays to Kelowna’s two. Everett finished 2-for-6 on the power play; Kelowna was 0-for-2.
“I thought we had a poor start tonight, but we got our feet going,” Hartsburg said. “Those first 10 minutes we were really on our heels, but we started to skate a little bit and got our game going after that.”
Geordie Wudrick and Lucas Bloodoff scored for Kelowna. Bloodoff’s goal came in the final minute with the Tips leading 5-1. Adam Brown stopped 26 shots in goal for the Rockets.
“They have a good team, and if you give them too much room off the rush, they make you pay,” Kelowna coach Ryan Huska said. “They did a good job of that tonight. And their power play was very good.
“Those are two areas where we need to do a better job,” Huska added. “We have to defend better off the rush and make sure we’re staying out of the box.”
Kelowna kept the Tips pinned for much of the game’s first 10 minutes behind a ferocious forecheck and physical play. However, it didn’t create much in the way of scoring chances, and the Tips scored first at 14:20. On the power play Murray sent a backdoor pass to Langkow, who sent another backdoor pass to Harper, who tucked it away to give Everett a 1-0 lead.
The Rockets then tied it 2:41 into the second period. McMillan flipped a shot toward goal from the point, and Wudrick dragged it around Simpson to make it 1-1.
But Everett cashed in on a pair of odd-man rushes later in the second. The Tips’ fourth line chipped in when McCrea restored Everett’s lead at 10:58, converting a nice feed from Campbell Elynuik. Then Harper made it 3-1 at 13:19, finishing off after passes from Langkow and Zack Dailey.
Silvertips 5, Rockets 2
Kelowna011—2
Everett122—5
First Period — 1, Everett, Harper 1 (Langkow, Murray), 14:20 (pp). Penalties — Callahan, Kelowna (roughing), 7:08; Theriau, Everett (roughing), 7:08; Corbin, Kelowna (hooking), 13:20; Chapman, Kelowna (boarding), 19:16.
Second Period — 2, Kelowna, Wudrick 2 (McMillan), 2:41. 3, Everett, McCrea 1 (Elynuik, Murray), 10:58. 4, Everett, Harper 2 (Dailey, Langkow), 13:19. Penalties — Kulchar, Everett (hooking), 6:16; L. Bloodoff, Kelowna (roughing), 17:56; Theriau, Everett (roughing), 17:56; Jackson, Kelowna (cross checking), 18:27; Bowman, Kelowna (slashing), 20:00.
Third Period — 5, Everett, Langkow 1 (Harper), 4:38. 6, Everett, Murray 1 (Froese, Maxwell), 13:33 (pp). 7, Kelowna, L. Bloodoff 1 (Chapman, Callahan), 19:12. Penalties — Iwanski, Everett (high sticking), 10:52; McColgan, Kelowna (goaltender interference), 12:02; Callahan, Kelowna (roughing), 14:05; Matheson, Kelowna (fighting), 19:25; Elynuik, Everett (fighting), 19:25.
Shots on goal — Kelowna 6-9-11 — 26. Everett 9-13-9 — 31. Power-play opportunities — Kelowna 0 of 2. Everett 2 of 6.
Goalies — Kelowna, Brown 0-2 (31 shots, 26 saves). Everett, Simpson 1-0 (26 shots, 24 saves).
A — 5,032.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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