EVERETT – Just about everything has gone right for the Everett Silvertips in the early stages of this WHL season. They are off to a flying start in the standings and have the stingiest defense in the league.
But amidst all the positives has been a single thorn embedded in Everett’s side: the Spokane Chiefs. The Silvertips went about removing that thorn Wednesday night.
Everett exacted a measure of revenge against the only team the Silvertips have lost to this season, beating Spokane 3-0 at the Everett Events Center.
“To finally get two points against these guys feels pretty good,” Everett captain Cody Thoring said. “They came out and played great, they might even have out-chanced us again. But two points is two points.”
Brandon Campos, Jason Fransoo and Kyle Beach scored goals and Leland Irving posted his fourth shutout of the season for Everett (10-1-0-1), which lost both its previous meetings against Spokane this season – 2-1 in a shootout at home on Oct. 6 and 5-2 at Spokane on Oct. 13.
“It’s never fun to keep losing to any team, so it was important for us tonight to find a way to beat them,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said.
Zach Hamill added two assists, giving him points in all 12 of Everett’s games this season.
The Chiefs have given Everett fits this season, primarily because of their speed. That speed is personified by star right wing Michael Grabner, who scored a hat trick the last time the teams met.
This time, the Tips rarely gave Grabner the chance to show off his speed, and he spent most of the game anonymous.
“We didn’t give them chances like we did in the past,” Thoring said. “We knew Grabner was one of the fastest guys in the league and we didn’t want to give him space and time with the puck. That was probably the biggest thing, keeping the puck out of his hands.”
Spokane also is the only team to score more than two goals against Irving this season. But with Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter, the man who drafted Irving in the first round of this year’s NHL draft, in attendance, Irving was sharp as a Ginsu knife. He stopped David Rutherford on a breakaway in the game’s opening moments, then got better from there. He finished with 20 saves for his fourth shutout in just 11 starts.
“You want to play well in front of those kind of guys (like Sutter),” Irving said. “If you can pitch a shutout you can’t ask for anything more. But I’ve got to give all the credit to the guys in front of me. They blocked a lot of shots.”
Kevin Armstrong finished with 15 saves in goal for Spokane (5-6-2-0), which lost its fifth straight.
“I thought we didn’t play with enough energy to be successful,” Spokane coach Bill Peters said. “Any time your group doesn’t bring enough energy to the rink you can’t be happy with that.”
During a first period in which neither team found its rhythm, Everett came away with a 1-0 lead thanks to a tremendous shift from the Tips’ mini-mite line of Campos, Zack Dailey and Shane Harper. The trio kept cycling the puck behind the Spokane net until Dailey found room to skate out front, then find Campos with a backdoor pass. Campos one-timed a shot behind Armstrong to give Everett the lead.
Play picked up in the second period, but both goaltenders were sharp until Everett scored again with 9.5 seconds remaining. Everett was on a five-on-three power play when Fransoo’s shot from the right point went in off a deflection, making it 2-0.
The Tips put the game out of reach with another power-play goal 1:25 into the third period. Beach surprised Armstrong by shooting from a tight angle on the left, giving Everett a 3-0 advantage.
Slap shots: Everett was at full strength with the exception of left wing Ondrej Fiala (knee), who isn’t expected back until Nov. 4. … Spokane was without two of its top players, left wing Judd Blackwater and overage defenseman Corey Courchene, for undisclosed reasons. However, the Chiefs welcomed back center Seth Compton, who missed the previous four games with a rib injury. With neither Courchene nor injured defenseman Jared Spurgeon (back) available, left wing J.P. Szaszkiewicz was used on defense.
Silvertips 3, Chiefs 0
Spokane000 – 0
Everett111 – 3
First Period-1, Spokane, Campos 4 (Dailey, Harper), 14:09. Penalties-Potuer, Everett (high sticking), 6:54; Linsley, Spokane (interference), 7:30; Bruton, Spokane (roughing), 8:47.
Second Period-2, Everett, Fransoo 4 (Mueller, Hamill), 19:50 (pp). Penalties-Ryan, Spokane (interference), 2:02; Zimmerman, Spokane (holding), 3:14; Falk, Spokane (cross-checking), 3:33; Beach, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:33; Vartovnik, Everett (interference), 5:08; Campos, Everett (boarding), 8:27; Bowman, Spokane (tripping), 13:06; Alic, Everett (hooking), 15:54; Bowman, Spokane (tripping), 16:39; Haw, Spokane (tripping), 18:25; Hobson, Spokane (tripping), 19:46.
Third Period-3, Everett, Beach 7 (Hamill), 1:25 (pp). Penalties-Potuer, Everett (high sticking), 6:41; Mueller, Everett (hooking), 9:28; Gutierrez, Everett (hooking), 15:00; Rutherford, Spokane (roughing), 20:00; Langkow, Spokane (fighting), 20:00; Harty, Everett (fighting), 20:00.
Shots on goal-Spokane 5-9-6-20. Everett 5-9-4-18. Power-play opportunities-Spokane 0 of 7. Everett 2 of 8.
Goalies-Spokane, Armstrong 2-5-2-0 (18 shots, 15 saves). Everett, Irving 9-1-0-1 (20 shots, 20 saves).
A-4,817.
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