Silvertips survive

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, April 5, 2005

PORTLAND, Ore. – All series long, the Everett Silvertips have asked Michael Wall and Alex Leavitt to carry the heavy load.

And on Tuesday night it was those same two players who carried the Silvertips into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

Michael V. Martina / The Herald Many hands make light work for Sedric Nady, 10, and his friends from Pioneer Elementary School in Arlington as they plant trees along Krueger Creek in Arlington.

Leavitt scored two goals and Wall stopped 36 shots as the Silvertips defeated the Portland Winter Hawks 3-2 in Game 7 of their first-round series.

“It’s amazing, really” Leavitt said. “Coming into their building, with them having all the momentum in the series, it was really an unbelievable accomplishment by the guys to keep going forward and not worry about what happened in the past.”

Everett, which won the best-of-seven series 4-3, advanced to face Kootenay, the top seed in the Western Conference, in the second round. Games 1 and 2 are Friday and Saturday in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

Leavitt scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period to make it 2-1, then scored what proved to be the game winner midway through the third on a breakaway. Portland’s Braydon Coburn scored with 59.8 seconds remaining to make it a tense final minute, but the Tips held on.

Mark Kress also scored for Everett, giving the Tips the early lead. The team that scored first won all seven games in the series.

“It was a battle,” Wall said about winning the series. “They pressured and pressured. Guys made some key blocks out front and we just battled through it.”

Garrett Festerling added a goal and Blake Grenier made 18 saves in net for Portland, which fought back from a 3-1 series deficit to force Game 7.

“Overall I was happy with the way our team battled through, not just tonight but in the playoffs and the last half of the year,” Portland coach Mike Williamson said. “But we failed to capitalize when we were playing our best earlier in the series. It came down to a Game 7 where I was still happy with the effort, but a couple of fundamental errors, a couple of turnovers and they found the back of the net.”

The bounces that Everett didn’t get in losses in Games 5 and 6 returned in Game 7. Kress’ goal came after Coburn misplayed the puck behind his own net, Leavitt’s first goal came on a rebound and his second came after Kress blocked a shot into the neutral zone, setting Leavitt off to the races. Leavitt finished with team-highs of four goals and nine points in the first round.

The rest of the heavy work was done by Wall. Wall, who has been outstanding all series long, was his stellar self again in Game 7. Portland put all kinds of pressure on the Everett net, particularly in the final 10 minutes – Portland outshot Everett 17-4 in the third period – but Wall always came up with the answer.

“(Wall) was the difference, in the series as well as the game, because we got outchanced most games,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “If you get outchanced and outshot in nearly every game your goaltender better be very good, and he was obviously very, very good.”

The game was tied 1-1 midway through the second periodwhen Leavitt gave Everett control. On a Tips power play, Zach Hamill made a nifty behind-the-back pass to Kyle Annesley in the left slot. Annesley’s shot was saved, but Leavitt got the rebound and fired it behind Grenier, making it 2-1 at 9:53.

Leavitt then gave Portland a mountain to overcome at 10:17 of the third period. Coburn wound up and shot from the left point, only for Kress to block the puck back across the blue line. Leavitt streaked onto the loose puck, broke away all alone and put a shot right through Grenier’s legs, making it 3-1.

Portland then kept the puck almost exclusively in the Everett zone the rest of the way, with Wall making big saves on Dan DaSilva, Coburn and Alex Aldred before Coburn cut the lead to one, getting a shot through Wall after a feed from Cody McLeod. But the Tips prevented any good Portland looks in the final minute.

Everett took advantage of a Portland mistake to take the lead 13:55 into the game. Coburn mishandled the puck behind his own net, allowing Curtis Billsten to sweep in for the puck and whip a pass out front to Kress. Kress one-timed a shot past Grenier on the glove side and in off the inside of the post, giving Everett a 1-0 lead.

Portland tied it at 1:56 of the second period. Coburn carried the puck into the zone, floated to the left corner, then dropped a pass back out front for Festerling, who beat Wall at the near post to make it 1-1.

Slap shots: Everett captain Mitch Love was scratched Tuesday. Love tried skating during warmups, but his injured knee turned out to be too sore to play. Love suffered the injury in Game 3, missed Games 4 and 5, then played in Game 6. … Tickets for Everett’s home games next Monday and Thursday go on sale at 9 a.m. today at the Silvertips office or noon at the Everett Events Center box office. They can also be purchased by phone at 1-866-332-8499 or online at www.everettsilvertips.com. … Portland has been dumped out of the playoffs in the first round four straight years.

Silvertips 3, Winter Hawks 2

Everett111-3

Portland011-2

First Period-1, Everett, Kress 2 (Billsten), 13:55. Second Period-2, Portland, Festerling 1 (Coburn, May), 1:56 (pp). 3, Everett, Leavitt 3 (Annesley, Hamill), 9:53 (pp). Third Period-4, Everett, Leavitt, 10:17. 5, Portland, Coburn 1 (McLeod, Dubinsky), 19:00. Shots on goal-Everett 6-11-4-21. Portland 7-14-17-38. Power-play opportunities-Everett 1 of 4. Portland 1 of 4. Goalies-Everett, Wall 4-3 (38 shots, 36 saves). Portland, Grenier 3-4 (21 shots, 18 saves).