KENNEWICK – For Torrie Wheat, a moment of redemption.
For Carey Price, a pair of bounces he’d rather forget.
And for the Everett Silvertips, reclaimed initiative in their first-round WHL playoff series.
Wheat tipped in the game-winning goal 3 minutes, 15 seconds into overtime, and the Silvertips defeated the Tri-City Americans 2-1 Tuesday night in Game 3 of their Western Hockey League quarterfinal series.
“I was pretty upset after Game 2,” said Wheat, who had a rough time in Everett’s 2-1 loss Saturday. “It was a very frustrating game for myself personally and our team as well. Getting the win in Game 3 is a big confidence boost for us.”
Shaun Heshka added a goal and an assist for Everett, which took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is tonight in Kennewick.
“This was huge,” Heshka said. “This game is totally crazy and I’ve never understood it. But it proves that if you work hard and get enough pucks to the net, they’re going to go in. I don’t think we played the fanciest game in the world, we chipped pucks out and got pucks in. It’s the little shots on net that go in and that was the key tonight.”
Just before the game winner, Wheat’s line had iced the puck after a long shift, meaning the Tips couldn’t change lines. That prompted Everett coach Kevin Constantine to use his timeout to give his players a breather.
Moments after the timeout was over the Tips won the game. Wheat intercepted an attempted clearance in the neutral zone, waited for his teammates to get onside, then dropped the puck to Heshka as he entered the zone. Heshka shot and Wheat, crashing the net, stuck his stick out and redirected the puck past Price, sending the Everett players into a wild celebration.
“It was just a harmless shot from the point and I just happened to get a stick on it,” Wheat said. “With things like that you really don’t know where it’s going, you just try to make it change directions a little bit and hope to fool the goalie. Somehow it snuck by him.”
Leland Irving had a solid game in goal for Everett stopping 23 shots.
Ian McDonald scored for Tri-City, which controlled large stretches of the game with its physical play. The Americans outshot the Tips 24-19.
“I’m pretty happy with the style we played, we took away their space,” Tri-City coach Don Nachbaur said. “We’re going to have to regroup and come back (today) and play hard and get a win under our belt, make this a three-game series. It’s going to take a toll.”
Price made some good stops in goal for the Americans and finished with 17 saves. However, it’s one he’d like back that gave Everett new life.
Tri-City was ahead 1-0 on McDonald’s first-period rebound goal and was effectively sitting on the lead, preventing Everett from any quality scoring chances.
However, the Tips were handed a gift early in the third period. Peter Mueller won a faceoff in the Tri-City zone, with the puck ending up on Heshka’s stick. Heshka let fly with a relatively tame slap shot that Price went to glove, but the Americans goalie only got a piece of it and the puck ended up in the top corner, tying it at 1-1 at 2:19. It remained 1-1 at the end of regulation.
“I one-timed it and it kind of had a flutter to it,” Heshka said. “I don’t know what happened to Price, whether he didn’t see it or lost it on the stands or if the flutter threw him off. That’s the break we got and we were fortunate enough to capitalize in overtime and win.”
Tri-City’s physical play produced the game’s first goal. Aaron Boogaard laid a crunching hit on Everett’s Jesse Smyke, creating a turnover in the Everett zone. Jason Beeman picked up the loose puck and although his shot from the point was saved by Irving, McDonald found the rebound and wrapped the puck around Irving, giving the Americans the lead at 8:03.
Tri-City rode its lead well and Everett didn’t get a good scoring chance until late in the second period, when the Tips were awarded a penalty shot. Unfortunately for Everett, the player fouled was defenseman Taylor Ellington, about the least-likely Tip to convert a penalty shot. Price saved Ellington’s shot to keep the score 1-0.
Slap shots: Everett had mixed news concerning the flu going through the team. Heshka, who missed Saturday’s 2-1 loss, returned to the lineup. Also, defenseman Jonathan Harty, who couldn’t practice Monday, also played. However, forwards Brady Calla and Ondrej Fiala remained sidelined and have yet to play in the series. … Kyle Beach, Everett’s first-round pick in the 2005 Bantam Draft, was with the team Tuesday, but did not dress. … With Calla out again, Everett used center Zack Dailey on the right alongside Zach Hamill and John Lammers. … The Tri-City fans showed their opinion of the Tips, sporting a handful of signs about diving. One fan even brought a “diver down” flag.
At Toyota Arena, Kennewick
Everett0011-2
Tri-City1000-1
First Period-1, Tri-City, McDonald 1 (Beeman, Boogaard), 8:03. Penalties-Schneider, Tri-City (tripping), 3:10; Kress, Everett (holding), 8:25; Aldred, Tri-City (holding), 10:50; Smyke, Everett (diving), 10:50; Aldred, Tri-City (hooking), 19:13.
Second Period-No goals. Penalties-Hromas, Everett (tripping), 4:15; Butterfield, Tri-City (holding), 8:50; Kress, Everett (goaltender interference), 9:30; Beeman, Tri-City (roughing), 13:20; Fransoo, Everett (roughing), 16:12; Inglis, Tri-City (roughing), 16:12.
Third Period-2, Everett, Heshka 1 (Mueller, Ellington), 2:19. Penalties-None.
Overtime-3, Everett, Wheat 1 (Heshka), 3:15. Penalties-None.
Shots on goal-Everett 6-6-5-2-19. Tri-City 7-7-9-1-24. Power-play opportunities-Everett 0 of 4. Tri-City 0 of 3.
Goalies-Everett, Irving 2-1 (24 shots, 23 saves). Tri-City, Price 1-2 (19 shots, 17 saves).
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