EVERETT – Faced with an opponent ready to rumble, the Everett Silvertips kept their cool. As a result, the Tips find themselves all alone in third place in the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League.
Barry Horman scored two goals and Michael Wall stopped 30 shots as the Silvertips defeated the Portland Winter Hawks 4-1 Wednesday night before 3,108 fans at the Everett Events Center.
In an ill-tempered affair that included a brawl after the final horn, Mark Kress and Martin Ruzicka also scored as Everett (12-10-3-1) netted all four of its goals in the final 25 minutes of the game.
“The main thing about (the Winter Hawks) is they’re really big and physical,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “We had to show up and be ready to compete because they make you pay the price to be successful.
“I was happy we got out of the first period without being scored on. Then I think we got into a rhythm.”
And the Silvertips refused to be baited. Everett committed three fewer penalties than Portland and took advantage, going 2-for-6 on the power play compared to 0-for-4 for Portland.
“They like to get into it after the whistle, but we just tried to stay out of that,” Horman said. “They have a couple of guys whose job is to do that and we had to stay disciplined.”
But perhaps the player who kept his cool best was Wall. With No. 1 goalie Jeff Harvey on a hot streak, Wall hadn’t started a game in three weeks. But with Harvey out sick, Wall was pressed into duty Wednesday and he quickly shook off the rust. Portland swarmed the Everett goal early, getting eight shots off in the first three minutes. But Wall turned them all away and didn’t allow a goal until there was just 5 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the game, by which time Everett led 3-0.
“I was a little bit (rusty),” Wall said. “But after the first period I settled down.”
The four goals were the most the Silvertips have scored in 10 games, and they managed it without two of their best offensive players – John Dahl and Tyler Dietrich – who were scratched.
“I think sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t,” Horman said about Everett’s offensive outburst. “Tonight we worked hard and created chances with pressure on the puck.”
It seemed fitting the game’s first goal came as a result of a melee. Everett was awarded a power play late in the second period after a dust-up in front of the Everett goal – though no gloves were dropped – when Portland’s Robin Big Snake body slammed Everett’s Ryan Blatchford. Big Snake was given a double-minor for roughing.
Everett scored 33 seconds later. The Silvertips were on the rush when Marc Desloges, taking a pass from Chad Bassen at the right circle, threaded a centering pass to Horman racing down the middle. Horman one-timed his shot past Portland goalie Krister Toews at the far post for a 1-0 lead at 15:07. The goal was Horman’s fifth of the season.
Everett then took control with two goals in 36 seconds midway through the second period. First, Kress fed Jovan Matic from behind the net for a one-timer which Toews saved. However, as Kress skated around the net, the puck rebounded into his path and he forced the puck past a lunging leg save to make the score 2-0 at 11:02. Then 36 seconds later, Curtis Billsten threaded a pass from behind the net to Ruzicka in front and Ruzicka put it in for his third goal of the year.
Portland cut it to 3-1 at 14:05 when Bailey beat Wall high to his stick side. But Horman capped off the night, scoring into an empty net from the center line with 39.3 seconds remaining.
Slap shots: With the victory, Everett moved one win away from matching the total for the WHL’s most recent expansion team, despite having played just 26 of its 72 games. Vancouver was 13-49-6-4 in 2001-02. … The Silvertips had some familiar names on the scratch list. Left wingers Dahl and Dietrich both returned from injury last week, but were unable to play Wednesday. Dahl, recently recovered from a broken wrist, was sick. Dietrich, recently recovered from a shoulder injury, suffered a different shoulder injury and is expected to be out for one or two weeks. … Big Snake, who came into the game second in the WHL in penalty minutes with 119, lived up to his reputation. Big Snake racked up eight penalty minutes in limited ice time.
First Period-No goals. Second Period-1, Everett, Horman 5 (Desloges, Bassen), 15:07 (pp). Third Period-2, Everett, Kress 1 (Matic, Jacobson), 11:02 (pp). 3, Everett, Ruzicka 3 (Billsten, Desloges), 11:38. 4, Portland, Bailey 4 (Dornic), 14:05, 5, Everett, Horman 6 (Armstrong), 19:21 (en). Shots on goal-Portland 12-9-10-31. Everett 11-9-9-21. Power-play opportunities-Portland 0 of 4. Everett 2 of 6. Goalies-Portland, Toews 10-11-2 (28 shots, 25 saves). Everett, Wall 4-3-1 (31 shots, 30 saves). |
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