EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips came out Saturday night with one intent: put the Vancouver Giants through the glass.
They succeeded, both figuratively and literally.
Unfortunately for the Tips, it didn’t translate to the scoreboard.
All of Everett’s physical play may have left the Giants with some bumps and bruises, but it couldn’t put a dent in the scoreboard as the Tips fell 3-0 at Comcast Arena.
Everett, which was humiliated by Vancouver 8-0 Wednesday, came out to hit the Giants hard right from the opening faceoff. That was punctuated midway through the third period when Tips defenseman Taylor Ellington’s check on James Wright shattered one of the glass panels, delaying the game for several minutes.
But with so many players missing through injury, Everett didn’t have enough offense to trouble either Vancouver, which has already clinched the Western Conference title, or Giants goaltender Jamie Tucker, who posted his third shutout in three starts against the Tips this season.
Yet even though the hits didn’t translate into victory, Everett coach John Becanic didn’t believe the effort went for naught.
“We played for 60 minutes, which was a major improvement from Wednesday night,” Becanic said. “We played as a team tonight. We were blocking shots regardless of the score, we finished our hits regardless of the score, and we fought every battle regardless of the score. To me that’s a major step up from Wednesday and something we can build on going into the playoffs.”
Added Ellington: “Coach (Becanic) got on us about hitting and we came out there and hit. Even though we got the loss, it builds character.”
Andrej Kudrna, Garry Nunn and Casey Pierro-Zabotel scored the goals for Vancouver (53-7-1-3), which won its fourth straight. Tucker finished with 24 saves in goal for the Giants.
Thomas Heemskerk did his part in net for Everett (25-31-7-2), working overtime in stopping 48 shots. However, there was only so much the Tips goaltender could do.
When the teams squared off Wednesday, Everett succumbed meekly. That wasn’t the case Saturday. Despite losing yet another player to injury — defenseman Mike Alexander left the game after turning his ankle — the Tips continued their feistiness, even after the Giants had the game well in hand.
“We know we’re not going to match their talent, we’d be fools to say it,” Becanic said. “But we can match their work ethic, we can match their passion, and we did. We out-hit them and competed hard. They had the puck more because they’re a little bit more talented than we are right now. But work is all heart, and tonight we played with our hearts.”
However, Everett’s hitting couldn’t knock the Giants off stride. Vancouver carried the majority of the play, and when Nunn and Pierro-Zabotel scored 1 minute 22 seconds apart late in the third period to make it 3-0, there was no coming back for the Tips.
“I thought Everett played a little frustrated at times,” Vancouver coach Don Hay said. “They were trying to finish their checks. I thought our d-men did a good job moving the puck, the forwards did a good job getting pucks to the net, and when we didn’t do that our goaltender was solid in the pipes. It was a good all-around effort for us.”
Everett came out with the intention of being physical with the Giants. That resulted in several big hits, but not much offense as Vancouver outshot the Tips 20-4. Heemskerk made several good saves, but there was nothing he could do at 15:33. Heemskerk saved Alex Rodgers’ wraparound attempt, but the rebound slipped out the opposite side, where Kudrna scored into an open net to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.
Vancouver doubled its lead at 13:55 of the second period when Nunn roofed a rebound on the power play. Then the Giants scored again 1:22 later when Pierro-Zabotel was found wide open in front, no Everett player within 50 feet. Pierro-Zabotel had plenty of time to stickhandle past Heemskerk to make it 3-0.
The third period got a little chippy, with a pair of fights breaking out. However, the game ended without major incident.
Giants 3, Silvertips 0
Vancouver120—3
Everett000—0
First Period—1, Vancouver, Kudrna 18 (Rodgers), 15:33. Penalties—Tochkin, Everett (tripping), 11:54; Potuer, Everett (hooking), 16:29.
Second Period—2, Vancouver, Nunn 24 (Barnett), 13:55 (pp). 3, Vancouver, Pierro-Zabotel 33 (Gallagher, Kane), 15:17. Penalties—White, Everett (roughing), 3:09; Tochkin, Everett (tripping), 11:57; Gallagher, Vancouver (interference), 15:39; Manning, Vancouver (slashing), 18:36.
Third Period—No goals. Penalties—Kane, Vancouver (roughing), 2:07; Abney, Everett (roughing-10-minute misconduct), 2:07; Gallagher, Vancouver (fighting), 7:44; Dailey, Everett (fighting), 7:44; Manning, Vancouver (fighting), 13:21; Schira, Vancouver (10-minute misconduct), 13:21; Iwanski, Everett (fighting), 13:21; Ellington, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 13:21; Froese, Everett (roughing), 14:55; Cunningham, Vancouver (tripping), 15:50; Abney, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 18:01.
Shots on goal—Vancouver 20-13-18—51. Everett 4-9-11—24. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 1 of 5. Everett 0 of 3.
Goalies—Vancouver, Tucker 16-1-0-1 (24 shots, 24 saves). Everett, Heemskerk 14-17-3-3 (51 shots, 48 saves).
A—8,020.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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