EVERETT — If the Everett Silvertips fall short of the playoffs at the end of the season, they’ll have an enormous target they can point toward as a primary reason why.
Once again the Tips left a point sitting on the table that was just begging to be grabbed as they fell 3-2 to the Kelow
na Rockets in overtime Sunday night at Comcast Arena.
Zak Stebner’s deflected goal gave Kelowna the victory 2 minutes, 22 seconds into overtime.
And it was an all-too-familiar refrain for Everett, which has had to shuffle off the ice in defeat repeatedly in games that required extra ti
me. The Tips are now 2-9 in games decided in overtime or shootouts this season, the worst mark in the WHL. For a team that’s locked into a battle for a Western Conference playoff spot, those points dropped in OT and shootouts are something Everett can ill afford.
“I don’t know what it is,” Everett captain Ryan Murray said. “I guess we’re just not playing right to the end. We’re always getting close, but we never seem to finish it off. That was (Kelowna’s) third in three nights and there’s no way we should have let them outwork us and outcompete us all around the ice.”
Stebner, a defenseman, also scored in regulation for Kelowna (31-23-0-1), which was thrilled with earning the full points. Not only were the Rockets playing their third game in three nights in three different locations, they skated a player short because of injuries and suspensions and fielded their 17-year-old rookie back-up in goal. But despite those circumstances Kelowna pulled off the win against a rested Everett team that had Saturday night off.
“The more important thing was the way we played,” Kelowna coach Ryan Huska said. “I thought we were a lot more committed to working, and our penalty kill was great. After a frustrating night (in Saturday’s 4-1 loss at Chilliwack) it was a good way for us to come back.”
Max Adolph scored the other goal for Kelowna, while Jordon Cooke had a strong game in goal for the Rockets, making 33 saves.
Josh Winquist and Josh Birkholz scored 1:41 apart late in the second period as Everett (23-24-5-4) erased a two-goal deficit to at least earn a point. Kent Simpson, making his 11th straigh start in goal for the Tips, made 29 saves in another solid outing.
Everett was left ruing its ineffectiveness on the power play. The Tips, who rank last in the league on the power play, had another fruitless effort with the advantage, going 0-for-6. That included a futile five-on-three that lasted 1:42 in the first period, and Kelowna’s penalty killers were able to completely nullify Everett’s power play.
The performance on the power play summed up Everett coach Craig Hartsburg’s frustrations.
“Some guys really tried and competed and were desperate all night,” Hartsburg said. “Guys like (Clayton) Cumiskey, (Scott) MacDonald, Murray, Simpson, (Rasmus) Rissanen. We don’t have enough guys like that right now. We have some real passengers on our team who really have to look at themselves in the mirror. It’s unfortunate because we have some kids who are playing their hearts out. We need more from some other people. The guys on the power play are probably some of the guys I’m talking about who need to give us more.”
One of those fruitless power-play opportunities could have given Everett the full points at the end of regulation and the beginning of OT. Adolph took a delay-of-game penalty with 1:19 remaining in regulation, gifting the Tips a golden opportunity to win it. However, Everett was unable to generate anything of note during the remainder of regulation, or during the four-on-three portion in OT.
Then the Rockets won it shortly after the power play expired. Stebner was given a free look at a loose puck while pinching in from the right point. His one-time blast deflected off traffic and past Simpson, sending the Rockets streaming onto the ice in celebration while Simpson argued he was interfered with.
“Our forwards were lazy on that goal,” Hartsburg said. “You can’t relax in overtime. Guys just watched the defenseman walk in and shoot. If you look at all the (overtime) goals they’re all the same idea.
“The problem with our team all year is I don’t think our forwards are tenacious and they don’t work hard as a group,” Hartsburg continued. “We have some guys who night-in and night-out pay a big price. But the reason why we’re up and down is because our group of forwards isn’t committed to doing it every night. They do it in spurts, and when they do it they can be a solid team. But it seems some nights they want to take off.”
The Rockets opened the scoring on the power play 9:28 into the game when Stebner blew a slap shot past Simpson from the right point. Kelowna doubled its lead 7:12 into the second period when Adolph came away from a board battle with the puck and a path toward goal, and he scored around Simpson to make it 2-0.
Everett, seemed in trouble, but the Tips tied it up with two goals in 1:41 late in the second, both coming on nice plays in transition. First, at 17:07, a nice passing move following a turnover in the neutral zone resulted in MacDonald setting up Winquist at the far post, getting Everett on the board. Then at 18:48, Birkholz played a nice give-and-go with Cody Fowlie and shot past Cooke to tie it up.
Rockets 3, Silvertips 2 (OT)
Kelowna 1 1 0 1 — 3
Everett 0 2 0 0 — 2
First Period—1, Kelowna, Stebner 6 (Smith, McColgan), 9:28 (pp). Penalties—Franko, Kelowna (tripping), 5:35; Winquist, Everett (hooking), 7:54; Smith, Kelowna (delay of game), 10:20; Yadlowski, Everett (interference), 13:03; Cumiskey, Everett (holding), 13:27; Heffley, Kelowna (roughing), 15:47; Main, Kelowna (goaltender interference), 16:06.
Second Period—2, Kelowna, Adolph 3 (Bulmer, Chikie), 7:12. 3, Everett, Winquist 6 (Cumiskey, MacDonald), 17:07. 4, Everett, Birkholz 15 (Fowlie, Murray), 18:48. Penalties—Elynuik, Everett (hooking), 2:23; Severson, Kelowna (roughing), 9:29; Maxwell, Everett (holding), 9:29; Harrison, Everett (roughing), 9:29; Bloodoff, Kelowna (slashing), 18:56.
Third Period—no goals. Penalties—Maxwell, Everett (hooking), 16:22; Adolph, Kelowna (delay of game), 18:41.
Overtime—5, Kelowna, Stebner 7 (Johnston, McColgan), 2:22. Penalties—none.
Shots on goal—Kelowna 10-15-6-1—32. Everett 13-13-7-2—35. Power-play opportunities—Kelowna 1 of 6. Everett 0 of 6.
Goalies—Kelowna, Cooke 6-4-0-0 (35 shots, 33 saves). Everett, Simpson 17-17-5-4 (32 shots, 29 saves).
A—5,574.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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