EVERETT — Game three of the Western Hockey League season had an unsettlingly familar feel for the Everett Silvertips.
Defensive breakdowns, bad penalties, indifferent goaltending, these were the same problems that plagued Everett when it lost its first two games last weekend. Few of those maladies were cured Friday night when the Silvertips fell 6-4 to the Kelowna Rockets at Comcast Arena.
“It comes down to the same thing every night,” said Everett left wing Kyle Beach, who was one of the few bright spots for Everett with two goals and an assist. “We come out and we’re not prepared, we give up odd-man chances, we’re not playing as a team, we’re taking undisciplined penalties. We had four goals on the power play and if that’s not enough to win a game I don’t know what is.
“If we play like that, it’s going to be a frustrating year.”
It’s been an ugly start to the season for Everett (0-3-0-0). The Tips have given up 17 goals in their first three games, an almost uncomprehensible number based on previous seasons. Last season the Tips didn’t surrender their 17th goal until their 14th game of the season.
Goaltender Leland Irving, a pillar of strength throughout his three previous seasons in Everett, has been a shadow of himself so far. He gave up four goals on 14 shots before being removed midway through the second period.
What makes Friday’s result more frustrating for Everett was the Tips controlled play for much of the night. Everett out-shot Kelowna 35-21. The Tips had 11 power plays to Kelowna’s seven, converting four times. And the Tips made a pair of stirring comebacks at the end of periods to pull within one goal. But Everett just couldn’t keep the puck out of its own net.
“We need to get better goaltending,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “The second and third goals were screens, but they went through him, and any time a puck goes through a goalie it can be considered a bad goal. Then the fourth goal looked like an impossible angle.”
Dylan Hood scored twice for Kelowna (1-1-1-0), which gave new head coach Ryan Huska his first career victory.
Brandon McMillan added a goal and two assists, Colin Long, Evan Bloodoff and Myles MacRae also scored, and Torrie Jung made 31 saves in goal for the Rockets.
“It feels very good,” Huska said of the victory. “It was an up-and-down game, that’s for sure, your emotions are all over the place. But I thought our guys competed very well tonight. That was something we tried to address after our last game against Vancouver, so we were happy with the effort they came out with tonight.”
Dan Gendur had a goal and two assists, Lukas Vartovnik also scored and Zach Hamill had three assists for Everett. Shayne Barrie made five saves on six shots in relief of Irving.
The first period ended in disaster for Everett. With the score tied 1-1 the Rockets scored a pair of goals that shouldn’t have happened in the final 1:04 to go up 3-1. First, at 18:56, Hood just threw the puck toward goal from along the right boards, but Irving never saw it and it snuck by into the far post. Then in the final seconds, the Rockets were allowed one final rush that probably could have been prevented, and Kelowna cashed in when Bloodoff latched onto a loose puck and put it into the corner just as the buzzer sounded.
It got worse for Everett at 13:45 of the second when Hood skipped past a challenge at the blue line, got in deep and beat Irving with a shot up high, making it 4-1 and sending Irving to the bench in favor of Barrie.
Everett fought back with a pair of goals late in the second, Gendur scoring the first at 15:20 on a slap shot from the point, then Vartovnik deflecting a Gendur wrister in with 13.4 seconds remaining in the period to make it 4-3.
The Tips had momentum, but it was killed when McMillan rounded defenseman Jonathan Harty and scored around Barrie 2:34 into the third to make it 5-3. Beach scored again at 18:09 with Barrie pulled for an extra attacker, but MacRae scored into an empty net with 25.8 seconds remaining to ice it.
Slap shots: Everett made several lineup changes in the wake of the return of Ondrej Fiala and Dane Crowley. Out went forwards Brennan Sonne, Brandon Campos, Vitali Karamnov and Jordan Mistelbacher, as well as defenseman Jeff Regier. Along with Fiala and Crowley, in came forwards Tyler Skauge — making his WHL debut — Tyler Eskesen and Shane Harper. Defenseman Mike Alexander, who was questionable because of a hip flexor injury, was able to play. … For Kelowna, top defenseman Luke Schenn, who was an injury doubt because of whiplash, was able to play. … Among the spectators was NHL legend Mark Messier. Messier’s son Lyon plays for the Rockets.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
Rockets 6, Silvertips 4
Kelowna 3 1 2—6
Everett 12 1—4
First Period—1, Kelowna, Long 2 (St. Denis), 6:10 (pp). 2, Everett, Beach 2 (Hamill), 17:48 (pp). 3, Kelowna, Hood 1 (E. Bloodoff), 18:56. 4, Kelowna, E. Bloodoff 1 (McMillan, MacRae), 20:00. Penalties—Myers, Kelowna (holding), 2:26; Skauge, Everett (roughing), 5:06; L. Bloodoff, Kelowna (interference), 9:55; Dowzak, Kelowna (roughing), 12:10; Beach, Everett (roughing-unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:10; Messier, Kelowna (holding), 16:58; Dailey, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:46.
Second Period—5, Kelowna, Hood 2 (McMillan, Paradis), 13:45. 6, Everett, Gendur 2 (Hamill, Beach), 15:20 (pp). 7, Everett, Vartovnik 2 (Gendur, Hamill), 19:46 (pp).
Third Period—8, Kelowna, McMillan 3 (Hood), 2:34. 9, Everett, Beach 3 (Gendur, Crowley), 18:09 (pp). 10, Kelowna, MacRae 1, 19:34 (en). Penalties—Vartovnik, Everett (roughing), 3:43; L. Bloodoff, Kelowna (hold stick), 4:12; Myers, Kelowna (roughing), 6:22; Beach, Everett (slashing), 6:22; Alexander, Everett (hooking), 7:17; L. Bloodoff, Kelowna (checking from behind), 9:42; Dowzak, Kelwona (holding) 13:37; E. Bloodoff, Kelowna (tripping), 15:09; Schenn, Kelowna (tripping), 17:15; E. Bloodoff, Kelowna (diving), 17:33; Vartovnik, Everett (interference), 17:33; Long, Kelowna (roughing-roughing), 18:42; Gendur, Everett (roughing-roughing), 18:42.
Shots on goal—Kelowna 9-5-7—21. Everett 9-14-12—35. Power-play opportunities—Kelowna 2 of 7. Everett 4 of 11.
Goalies—Kelowna, Jung 1-0-0-0 (35 shots, 31 saves). Everett, Irving (14 shots, 10 saves), Barrie 0-1-0-0 (6 shots, 5 saves).
A—5,265.
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