Three takeaways: Patterson sparks offense late for ‘Tips

EVERETT—The Silvertips finished a tough three-in-three on a sour note, falling to Victoria, 2-1, for their third consecutive loss.

Here are the three takeaways:

New forward combo provides spark

There wasn’t much offense for Everett on Sunday, but a line consisting of Bryce Kindopp and Gage Goncalves centered by Max Patterson was one of the most of the third period was active and accounted for the Silvertips’ lone goal against the Royals.

“I was just trying to get a different look, a little jumpstart to it,” Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams said. “And I thought the line played well together. When pucks aren’t going your way, you try and juggle it to see if you can find a quick strike or a quick spark to it.”

Goncalves and Kindopp started on a line centered by Connor Dewar, but dropped down to play with Patterson, while Zack Andrusiak and Martin-Fasko-Rudas joined Dewar on Everett’s top line. This is nothing unusual, as Williams often blends up his lines, especially while trying to ignited offense.

One of the biggest bright spots was Patterson, and more specifically, his passing. He generated plenty of goal-worthy chances and was the primary assist on Kindopp’s goal, a beautiful pass from behind the baseline.

“You know he’s really good at, is that he’s always got that reach on him,” Williams said. “He’s always got his head up and he can make plays off it. His poise with the puck is probably the best, he can wait for that extra half second and wait for someone to get open and he can slide that puck to them.

“It was a really nice play and that’s where he needs to play. He needs to play within 15 feet of the net and behind the net and use his body and strength and size to his advantage.”

Power play mixup

Everett’s first power play unit has been largely consistent this season, with Wyatte Wylie, Jake Christiansen, Dewar, Kindopp and Riley Sutter largely manning the first unit. Since Sutter’s lower-body injury, his vacant spot has been primarily occupied by Andrusiak.

This weekend showed more experimentation, and Sunday was the most extreme case.

Second unit was…

Christiansen-Minulin
Holmes-Anrusiak-Patterson. Looks like power-play personnel has been shaken up.

Penalty killed off. #WHL

— Josh Horton (@JoshHortonEDH) January 21, 2019

More power play changes with Wylie-Khaira-Andrusiak-Dewar-Kindopp skating out for first unit shifts. #WHL https://t.co/f6ELEpp0IJ

— Josh Horton (@JoshHortonEDH) January 21, 2019

Williams indicated it was to give it a different look.

“Same thing with the lines, you’re trying to mix them up a little bit and get a different feel at whose going out there at certain times,” Williams said. “Obviously it’s something we have to continue to look at it and tinker with and focus on. … We don’t want to put too much on those guys. Obviously we want to score power-play goals, but our penalty kill has done a pretty good job of keeping opponents to where we’ve been about even every game.”

The Silvertips have been lousy with the man advantage lately, going 0-for-11 on the power play during the weekend three-in-three. Everett has only capitalized on five of their last 48 chances over their last 11 games with the man advantage since returning from the Western Hockey League Christmas break, 10.4 percent clip.

Hot goaltending leads to offensive struggles

The Silvertips outshot their opponent in each of their three games over the weekend, with an overall margin of 40 shots on goal more, but produced just two goals.

Kelowna’s James Porter kicked it off on Friday, as the 2000-born netminder was terrific in his second consecutive 40-save performance against the Silvertips, this time in a 2-0 shutout. Portland’s Joel Hofer stopped 33 shots in his first appearance against Everett this season on Saturday and Griffen Outhouse played like a veteran overager should, making a litany of terrific saves in a 39-save performance.

Williams isn’t panicking despite the lack of offense over the weekend.

“Two weeks ago those were going into the back of the net and everyone’s smiling,” Williams said. “I told the guys the only way we get out of it is if we stick to the process, we stick together and we get prepared for two tough hockey games this weekend.”

Horton’s three stars:

1. Griffen Outhouse: The 20-year-old goaltender made 39 saves in his second start against Everett, revenging a 3-0 loss in Victoria.

2. Kody McDonald: His awareness to pounce on a lose puck on the goal line provided the Royals the game-winning goal.

3. Bryce Kindopp: Kindopp was all over the ice and potted Everett’s lone goal.