SEATTLE – Everett Silvertips coach Kevin Constantine had only one thing on his mind following Wednesday night’s game at Seattle.
“I’d say we’re not a very good team right now.”
Constantine called his team out following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Thunderbirds, a game the Silvertips bungled in numerous ways.
Everett gave up the tying goal in the waning seconds of the second period while on the power play, took a slew of penalties and was completely outplayed in the third period.
As a result the Tips (30-20-2-1) lost for the sixth time in nine games and saw their lead over Seattle (25-22-1-4) in the U.S. Division shrink to eight points. Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald
“Guys have got to care,” Constantine said. “Our guys are not passionate. They don’t play hard, they don’t compete. Some of it’s sickness and some of it’s injuries, but not all of it. A lot of it is guys right now who just don’t care enough. They’re just sitting on a lead.”
The turning point in Wednesday’s game was Seattle’s tying goal. Everett’s 1-0 lead appeared safe with the second period near its end and the Tips on a power play that would last for the remainder of the period.
However, the Tips turned the puck over at the blue line, presenting the T-birds with a two-on-one break. Ladislav Scurko found Chris Durand with a pass and Durand shot into the top corner, tying it 1-1 with 21.1 seconds remaining in the period.
“A good team does not make that mistake at that time of the game,” Constantine said. “Good teams don’t give away a lead going into the third period. Our power play’s been told, when you’re closing out a period with a lead, you just make sure you don’t give up anything. You don’t need to score, you have the lead and you take the lead into the third. It was the turning point in the game and it’s something that’s been discussed before.”
Then the third period turned into a disaster. Everett found itself on the penalty kill just nine seconds into the period and took a total of five minor penalties to none for Seattle. David Richard scored the go-ahead goal, his first career WHL goal, on a rebound at 7:16. The Tips had no chances to tie it back up because they were short-handed much of the rest of the game.
The lone bright spot for Everett was the Tips’ penalty kill, which worked overtime to ward off all 10 Seattle power plays.
“You should take pride in your job every single night,” Constantine said. “You can’t have the record we’ve had over the last little bit and say that we really care. We just don’t care right now.”
Peter Mueller, in his first game back after missing six games with a concussion and strep throat, scored Everett’s lone goal 1:10 into the second period. He picked up a deflected pass at center ice, turned on the speed, split the Seattle defense and beat Bridges through his legs, giving the Tips a 1-0 lead.
Everett goaltender Leland Irving had to scramble all night and finished with 30 saves.
Bryan Bridges had a solid game in goal for the T-birds, making 21 stops.
Slap shots: Of Everett four players who were questionable because of the flu, two – right wing Brady Calla and defenseman Graham Potuer – were able to dress. However, forwards Zach Hamill and Damir Alic were scratched. They joined injured teammates Torrie Wheat (foot) and Karel Hromas (collarbone) on the sidelines. … Seattle played without its leading goal scorer, right wing Ryan Gibbons. Gibbons was serving the second of a four-game suspension received for elbowing and breaking the jaw of Vancouver’s Tim Kraus. The T-birds were also without defenseman Clayton Barthel because of a sore back. … Everett was assessed a bench minor 3:14 into the game because of a scorecard error. The Tips did not start the game with the same six players announced as the starters.
Thunderbirds 2, Silvertips 1
Seattle 011-2
Everett010-1
First Period-No goals. Penalties-Everett bench (scorecard error, served by Sim), 3:14; Lammers, Everett (goaltender interference), 6:39; Klinkhammer, Seattle (checking from behind), 17:48.
Second Period-1, Everett, Mueller 19 (Doyle, Heshka), 1:10. 2, Seattle, Durand 13 (Scurko), 19:38 (sh). Penalties-Olson, Seattle (interference), 1:45; Doyle, Everett (goaltender interference), 2:19; Sim, Everett (high sticking), 5:22; Kress, Everett (holding), 6:55; Hickey, Seattle (tripping), 14:03; Olson, Seattle (cross-checking), 15:42; Johnson, Seattle (roughing), 18:06.
Third Period-3, Seattle, Richard 1 (Holloway), 7:16. Penalties-Sonne, Everett (chacking from behind), 0:09; Fransoo, Everett (high sticking), 2:38; Heshka, Everett (roughing), 8:17; Mueller, Everett (tripping), 9:58; Everett bench (too many men, served by Milhouse), 17:33.
Shots on goal-Seattle 9-7-16-32. Everett 6-11-5-22. Power-play opportunities-Seattle 0 of 10. Everett 0 of 5.
Goalies-Seattle, Bridges 16-7-1-2 (22 shots, 21 saves). Everett, Irving 27-18-1-1 (32 shots, 30 saves).
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