KENNEWICK — The Everett Silvertips coaching staff frequently gave its players full days off during the second half of the regular season to combat the fatigue that came from playing a weekend-heavy schedule.

However, most of those rest days came at home. This week the Tips have a five-day trek to Kennewick to play Games 3 and 4 against the Tri-City Americans in the best-of-seven WHL Western Conference finals.

The odd Monday-Thursday schedule was due to the Toyota Center playing host to a touring production of “Dirty Dancing” Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Tips, who beat Tri-City 8-4 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead, spent Tuesday completely away from the rink. Video coach Patrick Pajak took the team on a late-morning walk before lunch, and the team went to the movies in the afternoon.

“We just kind of took a day, which I think is important, not only the physical side, but the mental side,” Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams said. “(It’s important) to just check out for a full day and have some fun and come back to work (Wednesday) morning.”

With a win Thursday the Tips can put the Americans in a corner and take a commanding 3-1 series lead into Game 5 Saturday back home at Angel of the Winds Arena.

Game 4 in Everett’s semifinal series with Portland was crucial in the Tips’ eventual five-game victory. During Game 4 the Winterhawks came out with a superb effort and took the lead late in the opening period. The Tips, who were the beneficiaries of a stellar Carter Hart performance in net, responded by scoring the tying and winning goals within the next two minutes as they weathered Portland’s best effort at getting back in the series.

Everett, which went on to close out Portland the next night, expects a similar effort from the Americans tonight.

“We have to have that same type of desperation mindset and not go in there thinking ‘we just scored eight goals,’” Williams said. “If we go in with that mindset we’ll be coming home 2-2.”

The Tips have yet to lose twice in a playoff series this season as they remain unbeaten in five road playoff games. Everett has built a 2-1 lead in this series namely by holding Tri-City’s top two lines in check.

The Americans’ top line of Michael Rasmussen-Morgan Geekie-Kyle Olson has scored only once five-on-five and combined for five goals and two assists. The Everett line charged with defending that Tri-City trio consists of Connor Dewar, Riley Sutter and Garrett Pilon — a group that has combined for six goals and eight assists.

Rasmussen, who had 24 points in Tri-City’s first eight playoff games, has four goals and an assist in this series, but one goal was an empty-netter and two more came via power play. Geekie, who also had 24 points in the first two rounds, has only one goal and one assist.

Everett’s other scoring line of Sean Richards, Matt Fonteyne and Patrick Bajkov has combined for five goals and five assists while holding Tri-City’s Jordan Topping, Nolan Yaremko and Isaac Johnson to two goals and four assists.

Both third lines have also played critical roles so far as Maxwell James and Parker AuCoin combined for three goals and an assist in Tri-City’s 5-3 Game 2 victory at Angel of the Winds Arena. Everett’s Reece Vitelli and Martin Fasko-Rudas answered in Game 3 as each scored a goal with Vitelli adding an assist in Everett’s 8-4 victory.

The key for Everett’s third line is to be first on its puck touches as that line is younger and smaller than its Tri-City counterpart.

“With their size, if they’re not going to get their first, they’re not going to win a lot of their battles just from a physical standpoint,” Williams said. “We need that line to create some contributions on the offensive (side) and be very good on the defensive side.”

Everett has been outscored 11-3 on the blue line as Tri-City’s Juuso Valimaki has a goal and four assists. But Valimaki had a pair of costly turnovers Monday that led directly to Everett goals and finished minus-two for the game despite a goal and an assist on the power play.

The Americans scored twice on the power play Monday and are 4-for-8 in the series. One goal came during a rare 4-on-3 power play, and the other came during a coverage breakdown that led to Valimaki walking in on Hart.

If the Tips can clean up those areas and play with the intensity they possessed in Games 1 and 3, they have a great chance to return home Saturday with a chance to close out the series.

“We have to understand what works well for us and how we want to play,” Williams said. “It’s going to be a tall task. They’re a great team and their building is a tough place to play.”

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