Silvertips take over key second spot in U.S. Division

EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips are back in pole position in the race for second place in the WHL’s U.S. Division.

Everett leaped back to the head of the pack Wednesday night after beating the Portland Winterhawks 5-2 at Comcast Arena.

The Tips passed the Winterhawks for second and now lead Portland by a single point with less than a month remaining in the regular season. Everett also has two games in hand on the Winterhawks.

And with Spokane also winning Wednesday, thus pulling within one point of Portland, it promises to be a thrilling three-way battle to see who finishes second — and therefore avoids the other two in the first round of the playoffs.

“That was the plan,” Everett winger Shane Harper said about moving back into second. “Today was a huge game, it could have been a four-point swing. This is what we wanted and we’re just happy we came through.

“Right now it’s fun,” Harper added about the race for second. “It’s pretty much playoff hockey right now. Everybody’s fighting for position, every game can jump you positions. It’s fun watching the other scores and seeing that every game matters.”

Harper scored twice while Kellan Tochkin, Tyler Maxwell and Scott MacDonald also scored for Everett (37-19-3-1), which controlled the first two periods before being forced to hold on in the third. MacDonald’s goal, which came with 2 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in regulation, was the dagger as it made it 4-2 and killed the momentum Portland built in the third.

“That was a huge goal for us,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “(Clayton) Cumiskey and MacDonald have been a real key for us the last week or 10 days.

“I thought we played a pretty solid game,” Hartsburg added. “What you worry about against that team is turnovers, and when we did get ourselves in trouble it was because we turned the puck over and they turned it into scoring chances pretty quick. For 40 minutes we didn’t turn over too many. In the third we started to get light with it, but they’re a good team. You’re not going to play a perfect 60 minutes against that team.”

Eric Doyle and Spencer Bennett scored for Portland (37-22-2-1), which nearly overcame a rough night by starting goaltender Ian Curtis. Curtis fought the puck for two periods before giving way to Mac Carruth in the third. Despite his struggles Curtis limited the damage by only allowing three goals on 28 shots.

Carruth stopped seven of eight in relief as the Winterhawks nearly rallied in the third period to salvage something from the contest.

“I thought it was a good game all-around, actually,” Portland coach Mike Johnston said. “It was a fast-paced game, pretty good execution on both sides. Sometimes in a loss you’re disappointed in the way your team played, but I thought our team actually had a good night tonight, I thought they did a lot of good things out there. If we play like that most of the time I think we’ll be fine.”

After a shaky first couple minutes, when Portland was unable to convert a pair of early opportunities, and the Tips took the lead 7:09 into the game. Curtis spilled Rasmus Rissanen’s shot off the rush, and Harper got to the rebound and fired through Curtis to give Everett a 1-0 lead.

Portland tied it on the power play 1:45 later, Doyle’s slap shot from the point through traffic finding the corner, knotting it at 1-1.

Curtis continued to fight the puck in the second period, and after several scoring chances went begging the Tips scored twice in the final six minutes to go ahead 3-1. The Tips regained the lead at 14:22 when Curtis fumbled Tochkin’s shot from the neutral zone, and Tochkin beat the defense to the rebound to bang it past Curtis. Everett then scored on the power play at 18:40 when Maxwell’s shot from the boards was deflected into his own net by Curtis.

The Winterhawks came out stronger in the third and made it a one-goal game with another power-play marker at 10:56, Bennett converting following a mad scramble for a rebound.

But the Tips limited Portland’s opportunities from there, and Everett secured the win at 17:51. Cumiskey dug the puck out from a scrum and fed MacDonald, who rifled a one-timer into the top corner to give the Tips a two-goal lead.

Harper completed the scoring with 21.5 seconds remaining, scoring into an empty net.

Silvertips 5, Winterhawks 2

Portland101—2

Everett122—5

First Period—1, Everett, Harper 35 (Rissanen, Dailey), 7:09. 2, Portland, Doyle 6 (Francis, Walker), 8:54 (pp). Penalties—Walker, Portland (hooking), 0:54; MacDonald, Everett (goaltender interference), 8:08; Ross, Portland (elbowing), 9:39; Kulchar, Everett (holding), 17:54.

Second Period—3, Everett, Tochkin 21 (Maxwell), 14:22. 4, Everett, Maxwell 30 (Dailey, Langkow), 18:40 (pp). Penalties—Johansen, Portland (tripping), 17:14; Rissanen, Everett (cross checking), 18:54.

Third Period—5, Portland, Bennett 18 (Francis, Walker), 10:56 (pp). 6, Everett, MacDonald 4 (Cumiskey, Iwanski), 17:51. 7, Everett, Harper 36 (Dailey, Langkow), 19:38 (en). Penalties—Walker, Portland (hooking), 3:03; Gudas, Everett (delay of game), 10:05.

Shots on goal—Portland 8-10-12—30. Everett 12-16-9—37. Power-play opportunities—Portland 2 of 4. Everett 1 of 4.

Goalies—Portland, Curtis 19-8-1-1 (28 shots, 25 saves), Carruth (8 shots, 7 saves). Everett, Simpson 18-9-1-0 (30 shots, 28 saves).

A—4,742.

Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog