Everett, Wash.
Published: Sunday, March 16, 2008

Defeat seals Silvertips' playoff fate

Everett's 5-1 loss to Chilliwack coupled with Kelowna's win Saturday night means the Silvertips will face Spokane in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

Herald staff

 CHILLIWACK, B.C. -- The Everett Silvertips' special teams were anything but special Saturday night.

And as a consequence, the Tips must now face one of the top teams in North America in the first round of the playoffs.

Everett gave up four power-play goals and a short-hander, and the Tips fell 5-1 to the Chilliwack Bruins.

Everett couldn't stop Chilliwack's power play, but the Tips didn't help themselves with a series of undisciplined penalties that handed the Bruins 11 power plays.

The loss, combined with Kelowna's 6-2 victory over Prince George, means Everett will finish sixth in the Western Conference. With Tri-City beating Spokane 2-1 to win both the conference and WHL regular season titles, the Tips will face Spokane in the first round. The Chiefs are ranked second in the entire Canadian Hockey League.

Evan Pighin scored twice and Mark Santorelli had three assists to lead Chilliwack (28-34-4-5). Nick Holden, David Robinson and Cody Smuk also scored for the Bruins, and Mark Friesen made 20 saves in goal.

Zack Dailey scored a late consolation goal for Everett (39-29-0-3), which lost its fourth straight. Shayne Barrie made 36 saves in goal for the Tips.

Everett played without captain Jonathan Harty and third-leading scorer Kyle Beach. Both received one-game suspensions from Friday's 3-1 home loss against Seattle. Harty was suspended for his third fight instigator of the season, Beach was suspended for his checking-from-behind major penalty. The Tips were also fined $250 for their second multiple-fight situation of the season.

Special teams were the difference right from the beginning. In the first period as Everett was shut out on its three power plays and Chilliwack scored on both of its advantages. The Bruins struck first at 4 minutes, 41 seconds when Chilliwack held the puck in the zone for a long period before Holden was able to snipe a shot past Barrie from the point. It was 2-0 at 19:09 when Pighin put a rebound from off the back boards behind Barrie.

Those special teams continued to plague Everett in the second period as the Tips gave up both a power-play and a short-handed goal as the Bruins went up 4-0. Pighin scored his second power-play goal of the game at 15:09 on a nice passing move from Oscar Moller and Brandon Campos. Then Robinson scored short-handed at 16:34, converting a rebound from a Cody Smuk shot.

The Bruins then scored a five-on-three goal at 10:26 of the third, Smuk scoring on a scrum in front.

Everett averted a shutout when Dailey tipped in a Tyler Kieffer shot at 17:01.

Bruins 5, Silvertips 1

Everett 0 0 1 -- 1

Chilliwack 2 2 1 -- 5

@5. NHL box :First Period--1, Chilliwack, Holden 22 (Santorelli, Pighin), 4:41 (pp). 2, Chilliwack, Pighin 21 (Santorelli, Moller), 19:09 (pp). Penalties--Burt, Everett (boarding), 3:28; Robinson, Chilliwack (goaltender interference), 5:54; Holden, Chilliwack (hooking), 9:35; Meropoulis, Chilliwack (hooking), 13:26; Everett bench (unsportsmanlike conduct, served by Karamnov), 18:55.

Second Period--3, Chilliwack, Pighin 22 (Campos, Moller), 15:09 (pp). 4, Chilliwack, Robinson 7 (Smuk), 16:34 (sh). Penalties--Manning, Chilliwack (tripping), 4:15; Burt, Everett (cross checking), 6:53; Crowley, Everett (slashing), 9:36; Hamill, Everett (roughing), 14:04; Manning, Chilliwack (holding), 15:26; McNaught, Chilliwack (interference), 17:43; Crowley, Everett (interference), 18:37.

Third Period--5, Chilliwack, Smuk 4 (Howse, Santorelli), 10:26 (pp). 6, Everett, Dailey 7 (Vartovnik, Kieffer), 17:01. Penalties--English, Everett (roughing), 3:34; Alexander, Everett (hooking), 7:19; Hamill, Everett (interference), 8:31; Dailey, Everett (delay of game), 9:10; Mistelbacher, Everett (roughing-10-minute misconduct), 13:08; Regier, Everett (roughing), 18:55; Pighin, Chilliwack (hooking), 18:55.

Shots on goal--Everett 8-8-5--21. Chilliwack 16-14-11--41. Power-play opportunities--Everett 0 of 6. Chilliwack 4 of 11.

Goalies--Everett, Barrie 12-5-0-0 (41 shots, 36 saves). Chilliwack, Friesen 10-12-2-2 (21 shots, 20 saves).

A--4,863.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA