Tyler Maxwell sparks Silvertips’ offense

Published 11:34 pm Saturday, August 30, 2008

EVERETT — If the Everett Silvertips are to have any kind of success this season, they need players to step up offensively.

Enter Tyler Maxwell.

Maxwell scored a hat trick in just his second game in an Everett uniform, and the Tips defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-4 Saturday night on Day 2 of the Everett Silvertips Preseason Tournament. The victory, at Comcast Arena, was Everett’s first of the preseason.

“I didn’t see any hats on the ice so I didn’t realize he had three,” Everett coach John Becanic said of Maxwell. “He’s talented and he’s such a hard-working kid. He’s really committed to being a good player, so he’s a real joy to coach.”

Everett has a desperate need for new sources of offense as a huge chunk of last season’s scoring has moved on. Saturday night Maxwell, a 17-year-old rookie hopeful from California, signaled he may be able to heed that call. He polished off his hat trick midway through the second period as the Tips built a 7-1 lead.

“I definitely think I can be one of those guys,” Maxwell said when asked if he can help replace the departed offense. “When I came in here they said one of my main roles was to put the puck in the net, so I’m going to try my best to do that.”

Maxwell wasn’t alone in his offensive endeavors. Shane Harper performed the playmaker role to a T, notching a goal and three assists. Kellan Tochkin, Kyle Beach and Ryan White also lit the lamp for the Tips, who proved far more lethal offensively than in Friday’s 4-2 loss to Spokane.

Much of Everett’s damage was done on the power play as the Tips used some slick passing to rack up four power-play markers. Maxwell connected twice with the advantage.

“Watching video of (Friday night’s) game we were actually pretty good,” Becanic said. “With any puck luck we could have won that hockey game. The big difference was the power play tonight. Last night we were 0-for-5, tonight we were 4-for-8.

“The win is important for us to grow,” Becanic added. “By no means are we thinking this is the way it’s going to be all year, but it’s good because the guys have confidence they can put goals in the back of the net.”

Shayne Barrie made 21 saves in goal for the Tips.

Jeremy Boyer, Matt Betker, Mike Krgovich and Matt Hallick scored for Seattle, which made the final margin respectable after falling behind by six. Calvin Pickard stopped 30 shots in goal for the T-birds.

“I thought we played physical and hard, and we’re up 7-1 and you expect to maybe give up one, but I didn’t expect to give up three,” Becanic said. “They made it interesting. They came out and played hard and that’s a typical Seattle team, they’ve never quit in the six years I’ve been in the league.”

Everett took control with a four-goal blitz in the first period. Harper scored just 1 minute, 47 seconds into the game on the power play, with Tochkin adding a five-on-three goal at 6:53. Maxwell scored his first at 8:08 by putting in a rebound, with Beach scoring after a nice feed from Paul Van de Velde at 18:05 to make it 4-0.

The Tips then turned it into a rout in the second. Maxwell scored his second at 6:43 on a nice cross-crease feed from Harper on the power play. Then after Boyer scored for Seattle at 8:40, Maxwell completed his hat trick at 10:19, picking out the corner from the right circle on the power play.

Slap shots: Beach, appearing for the first time this preseason, recorded the infamous Gordie Howe hat trick, finishing with a goal, an assist and a fight. … Blair Macaulay scored two goals as the Tri-City Americans defeated the Chilliwack Bruins 5-3 in the day’s first game. … Oliver Gabriel snapped a tie midway through the third period, and the Portland Winter Hawks beat the Spokane Chiefs 5-3 in the middle game, despite being outshot 57-26.

Silvertips 7, Thunderbirds 4

Seattle022—4

Everett 430—7

First Period—1, Everett, Harper 1 (Ellington, Maxwell), 1:47 (pp). 2, Everett, Tochkin 1 (Beach, de la Lande), 6:53 (pp). 3, Everett, Maxwell 1 (Harper, Dailey), 8:08. 4, Everett, Beach 1 (Van de Velde, Tochkin), 18:05. Penalties—Boyer, Seattle (slashing), 1:32; Quakenbush, Seattle (hooking), 5:33; Trumbley, Seattle (cross checking), 5:56; Ellington, Everett (interference), 9:11; Krgovich, Seattle (holding), 11:19; Tochkin, Everett (interference), 12:00; Froese, Everett (slashing), 13:14; Hewson, Seattle (cross checking), 14:25; Dailey, Everett (hooking), 18:50; Hewson, Seattle (hooking), 19:19; Beach, Everett (cheking from behind), 19:32.

Second Period—5, Everett, Maxwell 2 (Harper, Dailey), 6:43 (pp). 6, Seattle, Boyer 1 (LeBlanc), 8:40 (pp). 7, Everett, Maxwell 3 (de la Lande, Ellington), 10:19 (pp). 8, Everett, White 1 (Harper, Stephen), 12:53. 9, Seattle, Betker 1 (Hallick), 16:57. Penalties—Quakenbush, Seattle (high sticking), 5:38; Trumbley, Seattle (cross checking), 6:00; Beach, Everett (cross checking), 6:00; McCrea, Everett (high sticking), 7:11; Acolatse, Seattle (fighting-game misconduct), 9:08; Beach, Everett (fighting-game misconduct), 9:08; Trumbley, Seattle (holding), 9:31; Krgovich, Seattle (interference), 17:48.

Third Period—10, Seattle, Krgovich 1 (Nielsen, Hewson), 4:28. 11, Seattle, Hallick 1 (Trumbley), 12:21. Penalties—Quakenbush, Seattle (fighting-game misconduct), 5:28; Potuer, Everett (fighting-game misconduct), 5:28; Trumbley, Seattle (fighting-game misconduct), 12:31; Abney, Everett (fighting-game misconduct), 12:31.

Shots on goal—Seattle 9-7-9—25. Everett 17-11-9—37. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 0 of 5. Everett 4 of 8.

Goalies—Seattle, Pickard 0-1 (37 shots, 30 saves). Everett, Barrie 1-0 (25 shots, 21 saves).

Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog