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<< Previous   of   Next >> Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Ice flies as the Everett Silvertips’ goalie Leland Irving (center) makes a save in the first period of Everett’s 2-0 victory over Seattle.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, March 1, 2008 Silvertips' Irving shines in Everett's 2-0 win over Seattle Goaltender ties the WHL regular-season career shutout record By Nick Patterson Herald Writer EVERETT -- As the final seconds wound down, Ian McKenzie's backhander from in close fluttered toward the top corner of the net. Everett Silvertips goaltender Leland Irving, out of position after making a save just fractions of a second earlier, could only watch. With everyone holding their collective breaths, the puck fluttered just wide, the final horn sounded, and just like that Irving had carved himself out a piece of WHL history. Irving notched his 21st career shutout, matching the league record for regular-season clean sheets, and the Silvertips defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 2-0 Friday night. Before a sellout crowd of 8,440 at Comcast Arena, Irving matched the record held by former Kootenay and Seattle goaltender Bryan Bridges, who set the record from 2001-06. "It's a big relief," Irving said about equaling the record. "But I can't take all the credit. Without the guys in that room, there's no way I would be able to get this many. Especially on a night like tonight. I felt there were a couple times I was down and out and the guys were right there to bail me out. "It's quite an achievement," Irving added. "I'm pretty proud, but at the same time it's pretty irrelevant compared to what we're trying to get done here. I'm going to keep taking it one game at a time and when the season's over, then we can enjoy what we've accomplished." Clayton Bauer and Kyle Beach scored the goals as Everett (36-25-0-3) inched within two points of Seattle (35-21-5-2) for fourth place in the Western Conference. But it was Irving's night as he was well worth his record-tying shutout. Irving made several big-time saves, particularly during the first period with the game was still scoreless. He finished with 37 stops. "He deserves it," Everett coach John Becanic said. "He's been the staple of this organization for four years. It's nice to get a personal accolade, it really is. It's not about personal accolades, but it sure is nice to see your name in the record books. Hopefully we'll play well in front of him here in the last eight games and see if we can get him the record all alone at the top." Irving knew early on he had the stuff to match the record. "In this game I felt sharp right from warmups," Irving said. "I really was focusing on some things in practice that enabled me to get going right from the beginning. I was able to feel the puck early, get some confidence and just kind of roll from there." But the record was nearly snatched away at the end, just as it was seven days earlier. Irving appeared to have the record matched last Friday when Everett was winning 2-0 in Spokane, only for the Chiefs to spoil it with a late short-handed goal. This time, the Tips took a late penalty, and the T-birds poured on the pressure. However, McKenzie was unable to find the target with Seattle's best chance, and this time Irving was able to celebrate. "I was like, 'Oh no, not again!'" Irving said about McKenzie's chance. "The same thing happened in Spokane with 1:20 left to break the goose egg. So I was real fortunate and let out a big sigh of relief when that missed." Irving's counterpart, Jacob DeSerres, finished with 35 saves as both teams created their share of offense. "I thought that was by far the most intense game we've played in the last 15, because they were as intense as we were," Becanic said. "When someone's matching your intensity it's hard to sustain that for 60 minutes, and I thought both teams sustained." During a first-period that featured plenty of up-and-down action and ill will, Everett emerged with a 1-0 lead. Bauer scored at 15:56 when he just squeezed the puck past DeSerres after a backdoor pass from Dan Gendur. Then Irving made several big saves, including one on a Bud Holloway breakaway, to keep the T-birds off the scoreboard. Everett doubled its lead 1:15 into the second period. Dane Crowley skated the puck up the ice, drove the net, and although his shot was saved, Beach banged in the rebound to make it 2-0. Slap shots: Everett call-up defenseman Paul Sohor was back in the lineup. Sohor had returned home to Winnipeg, Manitoba, but had to be rushed back when Chris de la Lande suffered a leg injury in practice Thursday. ... The Tips also played without defensemen Taylor Ellington (foot) and Mike Alexander (shoulder) because of injury. ... Seattle was without injured center Charles Wells (knee) and defenseman Steve Chaffin (concussion), meaning a WHL debut for call-up 15-year-old left wing Chase Lund. Silvertips 2, Thunderbirds 0 Seattle 0 0 0 -- 0 Everett 1 1 0 -- 2 @5. NHL box :First Period--1, Everett, Bauer 24 (Gendur, Hamill), 15:56. Penalties--McKenzie, Seattle (fighting), 2:11; Harty, Everett (instigator-fighting-10-minute misconduct), 2:11; O'Brien, Seattle (interference), 4:05; Olson, Seattle (roughing), 5:45; Beach, Everett (roughing), 5:45; Hickey, Seattle (roughing), 18:14; Beach, Everett (roughing), 18:14; Crowley, Everett (interference), 18:44; Acolatse, Seattle (roughing), 19:30; Potuer, Everett (high sticking), 19:30. Second Period--2, Everett, Beach 27 (Crowley, Harper), 1:15. Penalties--Gendur, Everett (elbowing), 2:07; Harty, Everett (roughing), 4:39; Olson, Seattle (cross checking), 8:51; Dillon, Seattle (tripping), 12:58. Third Period--No goals. Penalties--Acolatse, Seattle (roughing), 10:37; Rai, Seattle (tripping), 15:03; Gendur, Everett (holding), 19:26. Shots on goal--Seattle 15-13-9--37. Everett 23-8-6--37. Power-play opportunities--Seattle 0 of 4. Everett 0 of 5. Goalies--Seattle, DeSerres 17-10-0-1 (37 shots, 35 saves). Everett, Irving 26-21-0-3 (37 shots, 37 saves). A--8,440. Nick Patterson's Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog

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