EVERETT — It seemed just a matter of time before the dam broke.
The Everett Silvertips sent wave after wave at the Tri-City Americans’ net Friday night, only to see the dam — better known as Eric Comrie — bounce back just about everything.
But the continual pressure finally caused the dam to buckle.
Everett finally solved Comrie in the third period and pulled away for a 4-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Americans on Friday night at Xfinity Arena.
Everett had all kinds of scoring chances through two periods, yet carried just a 1-0 lead into the third as Comrie made a string of good saves.
But Brayden Low, Dawson Leedahl and Ben Betker scored third-period goals as the Tips broke the game open.
“I think we were buzzing pretty well,” Low said. “They have a heck of a goaltender over there in Eric Comrie, and we knew we just had to keep getting shots and traffic to him. They played well, they had a good response to our first goal. The message in the room was to take over the third period and we did that.”
Kohl Bauml also scored for Everett (33-15-3-1), which won its seventh straight home game. Austin Lotz came three minutes from recording a shutout in goal, but had to settle for a 19-save win for the Tips, who extended their lead atop the U.S. Division to three points over Portland.
“We’ve been stressing to play a full 60 minutes, and for the last seven or eight games we haven’t had that,” Low said. “Tonight I thought we brought it the whole game.”
Jordan Topping scored the consolation goal for Tri-City (24-25-0-3), which dropped its fourth straight. Comrie finished with 30 saves.
The teams have a rematch Saturday night in Kennewick.
Everett controlled play through the first 40 minutes, particularly in the second period, but the Tips were clinging to a precarious one-goal lead as the third period began.
It ended up requiring an unconventional goal for the Tips to finally pad their lead. Just 1 minute, 13 seconds into the third period, Low raced to a loose puck below the goal line, turned and slapped a shot that deflected off the back of Comrie and into the net to give Everett a 2-0 lead.
“It was obviously pretty greasy,” Low said of the goal. “There was a set play off a faceoff, it went into the corner and I knew he was kind of out of position a bit. I took a quick look over my shoulder, saw he was off his post, and I’m just glad it didn’t go down the other end of the ice.”
The second goal eased the tension, and the Tips added to the lead through the rest of the period. At 12:26 Leedahl was slashed behind the play as the puck headed into the Everett zone. The Tips collected the puck, headed back the other way during a delayed penalty, and Leedahl ended up scoring on a rebound to make it 3-0.
The Tips added another at 15:43. Nikita Scherbak raced into the Tri-City zone, circled the net, then fed the puck to Betker in the high slot. Betker, with time to line up his shot, picked out the corner to make it 4-0 and render Topping’s late goal for Tri-City academic.
There was little in the way of quality scoring chances in the first period, and it seemed destined to end scoreless. But Everett waited as late as possible to find the breakthrough.
The first period was all but over when Tri-City defenseman Riley Hillis had possession of the puck heading back into his own zone under little pressure with 8 seconds remaining. But instead of eating the puck and killing the clock, he decided to rim the puck behind his own net. Leedahl cut it off along the opposite boards and pushed it into the corner for Carson Stadnyk. Stadnyk spun a desperation shot toward goal that went off Comrie, and Bauml banged it in just as time expired. After a video review, the goal was upheld with 0.1 seconds remaining, giving the Tips an unlikely 1-0 lead heading into the second.
Everett then had all kinds of high-quality chances to pad its lead early in the second, but was unable to do so. Comrie made a series of excellent saves, and when the Tips did finally have Comrie beat on the power play, Bauml’s redirect at the back door went off the crossbar. So despite a 15-6 shot advantage in the period, Everett still took just a one-goal advantage into the third.
Slap shots
Everett winger Logan Aasman, who has been out since Nov. 30 because of a concussion, has rejoined the team after spending the past month at home recovering. He remains out indefinitely. … Friday’s game saw former Silvertip forward Tyler Sandhu return to Everett for the first time as an American. Sandhu was traded by Everett to Red Deer early in the season, then was traded by Red Deer to Tri-City in January. However, another former Everett player, defenseman Carter Cochrane, who was dealt to the Americans in January, missed out on his first chance to face his former team as he was scratched because of an upper-body injury.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
Silvertips 4, Americans 1
Tri-City 0 0 1—1
Everett 1 0 3—4
First Period—1, Everett, Bauml 25 (Leedahl), 19:59. Penalties—Carlo, Tri-City (holding-cross checking), 6:05; Laurencelle, Everett (roughing), 6:05.
Second Period—no goals. Penalties—Carlo, Tri-City (interference), 1:38; Hamonic, Tri-City (hold stick), 6:42; Topping, Tri-City (fighting), 6:42; Skrumeda, Everett (fighting), 6:42; Wotherspoon, Tri-City (slashing), 11:31; Stadnyk, Everett (embellishment), 11:31.
Third Period—2, Everett, Low 13 (Scherbak, Laurencelle), 1:13. 3, Everett, Leedahl 8 (Stadnyk, Davis), 12:26. 4, Everett, Betker 5 (Scherbak, Pfeifer), 15:43. 5, Tri-City, Topping 6 (Nickles, Hamonic), 17:32. Penalties—Juulsen, Everett (boarding), 3:18; Gutierrez, Tri-City (fighting), 6:14; Wharrie, Everett (fighting), 6:14; Low, Everett (high sticking), 13:12.
Shots on goal—Tri-City 7-6-7—20. Everett 11-15-8—34. Power-play opportunities—Tri-City 0 of 2. Everett 0 of 3.
Goalies—Tri-City, E. Comrie 14-12-0-1 (34 shots, 30 saves). Everett, Lotz 23-11-1-1 (20 shots, 19 saves).
A—4,603.
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