EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips have their backs against the wall.
Everett trails its second-round best-of-seven playoff series against the Portland Winterhawks 3-1, meaning the Tips must win Sunday’s Game 5 at Xfinity Arena to keep their season alive.
However, despite the gravity of the situation, the Tips are approaching Game 5 like they would any other game.
“As I said last series, I couldn’t care less what the series score is,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said following Friday’s Game 4 loss in Portland. “When it’s four it’s over. We have to win four. When we win four we move on, if they win four it’s over. The score of the series is meaningless, you have to play your next game and try to win it. Whether we’re up 3-1 or down 1-3, it won’t change how we play on Sunday. We play to win the game.”
Since winning Game 1 Everett has dropped three straight in the series, including Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss in Portland that put the Tips in their current predicament. Two of those three defeats came in overtime.
This is the first time this season Everett finds itself in a win-or-else situation. The Tips essentially went wire-to-wire in winning the U.S. Division title — even though Portland went ahead by winning percentage late in the season, Everett was never faced with a must-win game in the division race. Then in the first round of the playoffs, even though the Tips were extended by Spokane, Everett never trailed in the series, eventually winning in six games.
But facing elimination, the Tips are trying to remain in the present.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” Everett overage defenseman Ben Betker said. “We just have to win one at home and not look any further than that.”
Being back on home ice should aid the Tips in their task of keeping their season alive. Not only will Everett have the support of the crowd, the Tips will have the advantage of having the last line change, meaning that at whistles Everett will be able to get the personnel match-ups it desires. That’s particularly useful against a Portland team led by elite offensive talents in Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nicolas Petan.
“I think (it helps),” Constantine said about the series moving back to Everett. “Not much. Both teams have played well, the games have been close other than Game 3. It does give you some line change stuff and you get a little energy from your own crowd, so we’re happy to be going home to play Game 5.”
Said Betker: “We play better at home, we’re probably a bit more physical — I wish we were a little more physical away from our rink as well, in other teams’ barns. We just can’t look past Game 5 and we just have to worry about our next shift.”
But the Tips continue to be constrained by injuries. Everett has played the entire series without defensemen Noah Juulsen and Tristen Pfeifer, which has forced the Tips to rely almost completely on just four defensemen. Constantine said he thought his defense wore down late in Game 4 and that it contributed to the final result.
Now Everett is also looking at a possible shortage up front. Winger Dawson Leedahl, a key component of the Tips’ Saskatoon Platoon line, was scratched from Game 4 after a one-game return from injury. Then winger Jake Mykitiuk, who filled in admirably for Leedahl with three points in the first four games of the series, left Friday’s game in the third period and did not return.
If Juulsen, Leedahl and Mykitiuk are all unable to play Sunday, it may mean a WHL debut for 16-year-old Spencer Gerth. The call-up winger is the only other healthy body currently with the team.
Slap shots
The Everett-Portland series is the only second-round series still going. Kelowna (over Victoria), Brandon (over Regina) and Calgary (over Medicine Hat) all finished off their series in Game 5 Friday night. … Portland outshot Everett in each of the first four games of the series. Twice it was by a single shot, the other two times it was by nine and 17 shots. … Everett’s leading scorer in the series is defenseman Cole MacDonald, who has five assists and also leads the team in plus/minus at plus-4. No Tips player has scored more than two goals. … Portland’s leading scorer in the series is Petan with seven points (one goal, six assists), while Bjorkstrand is the Winterhawks’ top goal scorer with three.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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