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Tipped Off
04-12-2005, 09:00 AM
Silvertips Fight to a 3-2 Loss in Overtime
Kootenay Leads Series 3-0
Everett Silvertips Press Release

Everett, WA - Game three of the Western Conference Semi-Finals went into overtime with the Kootenay Ice coming out on top 3-2. The Everett Silvertips are now down 3-0 in this best of seven series.

Nigel Dawes scored his first goal of this series at 10:21, on a Kootenay power play, with a lone assist coming from Martin Sagat. The Silvertips rallied back and scored two tallies in forty-five seconds. The first marker came from Alex Leavitt, who earned his fifth in the post season. Zach Hamill sent a back-handed pass from the left side of the net into the crease where Leavitt found the puck and scored. Baranka also received an assist on the goal. Everett's second, and last, came from Shaun Heshka when he fired a one-timer from the right point. Curtis Billsten was awarded the assist.

The game tying goal by the Ice did not come until late in the third. With the Silvertips up 2-1 and only a minute thirty-eight left in the game, Adam Cracknell fired from center point. Mike Busto had the lone assist. In overtime, Kootenay scored at 13:35, only seven seconds after an Everett penalty for too many men on the ice was served. Adam Taylor earned the game winner with help coming from Martin Sagat and Nigel Dawes.

The battle between Mike Wall and Jeff Glass continued tonight with Glass getting the win but Wall working the hardest. Wall, stopping 45 of 48 shots, made some tremendous saves to keep his team in the game and to earn him the number one star for the night. His record now rests at 4-6 for the post season, 0-3 for the series. Jeff Glass stopped 17 of 19 shots and lifts his record to 7-2. On the power play Everett could not convert on three chances while Kootenay scored on one of four. Final shots on goal were the Ice 48 and the Silvertips 19.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday April 12th, game four gets underway at 7:05pm. The Silvertips need a win to stay alive and move this series back to Cranbrook, BC.

Everett Silvertips Box Scores

Alex Leavitt (5) 1 G
Shawn Heshka (2) 1 G
Zach Hamill 1 A
Ivan Baranka 1 A
Curtis Billsten 1 A
Mike Wall (4-6): 45 saves on 48 shots
Power Play: Everett 0 for 3, Kootenay 1 for 4
Shots on Goal: Everett 19, Kootenay 48
Attendance: 5,101

Three Stars of the Game

1. Mike Wall (EVT)
2. Nigel Dawes (KTN)
3. Zach Hamill (EVT)

Tipped Off
04-12-2005, 09:03 AM
From the Everett Herald - 4/12:

Tips play as well as they can, but come up short


By John Sleeper
Herald Writer


EVERETT - Maybe Everett Silvertips coach Kevin Constantine wasn't specifically referring to his team's series against the favored Kootenay Ice, but this is what he said two days before the series started:

"Hockey may be the one game where the best team doesn't necessarily win."

Then again, maybe he was.

The side panels of the Stanley Cup are full of names of teams whose goalie suddenly got hot just in time for the playoffs and the stoked-up team simply behind him. And breaks. They got breaks and won the Cup.

The Silvertips were 1 minute, 17 seconds from pulling it off in Monday night's Game 3, a 3-2 loss in overtime.

"You have to play 60 minutes, not 55," Silvertips center Zach Hamill said. "We've got to work hard for 60 minutes. They aren't the best team in the league for nothing."

The Silvertips had just 1:17 left of truly torrid pressure from Kootenay to steal a 2-1 victory. But that was when Adam Cracknell's bullet tied the score and sent the game into overtime.

Kootenay's game-winner only seemed a matter of time after that. The swarming Ice created chance after chance and outshot the Silvertips 38-16 in regulation, 48-19 for the game, to take a 3-0 lead in the series.

At times, the Ice, with their deadly, greasy speed, appeared to have seven or eight skaters.

The scary thing for the Tips: They did as much as they could.

"We played about as good as we can play," forward Alex Leavitt said. "It just hurts to play such a completely solid game and give up a goal like that with a minute and a half left in the third period."

Everett can't possibly match Kootenay's speed and skill. The Silvertips' rapidly waning chances in the series rest on slowing the Ice down by turning their bodies into a human contusion and taking advantage of any opportunity Kootenay gives them, rare as that may be.

They also need Wall to come up huge, as he did Monday night.

But even that wasn't enough.

It wasn't that the Silvertips didn't try to bang. Early, Ivan Baranka put a fearsome hit on Casey Lee. Jonathan Harty crashed in on Lee as well. Leavitt cleaned out Derek Price along the boards.

But it hardly slowed Kootenay down. The Ice still outshot the Tips in the first period, 14-4, although neither team could score.

Wall was brilliant all game, but then, he had to be. The Ice have eight players who scored 40 points or more in the regular season. They swarm, shoot, rebound and score at will.

"They have three lines that can score any time," Leavitt said. "Most of the rest of the teams in the league have one line that does the majority of their scoring. Any time they have any combination of guys on the ice, they're a threat."

When he isn't taking dives like Greg Louganis, Nigel Dawes is as dangerous as any player in the league. Behind the net, he can find teammates streaking goalward for startlingly quick shots. One time, Dawes, unimpeded, zipped a pass to Cracknell, who immediately slapped a laser at Wall.

It was one of Wall's finest saves of the night, out of many.

Kootenay's speed is one reason Randy King's cross-checking penalty in the second period was so damaging. By blasting Brett Sutter in the facemask well after the play, King gave the Ice a chance an offensively powerful team such as the Ice doesn't need.

Result: Dawes screams one past Wall for a 1-0 lead.

Leavitt and Shaun Heshka shocked the Ice with two goals 39 seconds apart, but Kootenay responded as champions do. They didn't panic and pushed even harder.

"It takes four games to win a series," Leavitt said. "They only have won three, so the series isn't over. This team likes to do everything the hard way, so we may as well try to do the hardest of the hard - come back and win it in seven."

Kootenay won't make it easy.

Tipped Off
04-12-2005, 09:04 AM
From The Everett Herald - 4/12

Tips are now on thin Ice
Goaltender Wall's awesome performance spoiled with last-minute goal in 3rd period

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


EVERETT - There's only so much one man can do. Enough pounding and even the strongest of Walls will eventually crumble.


Dan Bates / The Herald

Everett Silvertips goaltender Michael Wall's stellar effort went for naught as the Kootenay Ice scored at the end of regulation to force overtime, then got the winner in overtime, defeating the Silvertips 3-2 Monday night in Game 3 of their Western Hockey League playoff series.

Before an Everett Events Center crowd of 5,101, Martin Sagat's shot from the point deflected off Adam Taylor and found the corner of the net 13 minutes, 35 seconds into overtime, giving Kootenay a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Only one team in WHL history - Spokane against Portland in 1996 - has ever won a series after trailing 3-0. Game 4 is tonight in Everett.

"That one really stung," Everett right wing Alex Leavitt said. "To be so close with two minutes left and to give up a goal where they should never have had a chance from the slot like that, that just really hurts.

"No one wants to go home," Leavitt added. "Everyone loves playing here. The only way we can keep playing here is if we keep winning."

Adam Cracknell scored the tying goal for Kootenay with 1:28 remaining in regulation, Nigel Dawes also scored and Jeff Glass made 17 saves for the Ice, who swarmed around the rink and had the Tips chasing the game throughout.

"I thought we played pretty good," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "They're a good team, we've said that all along. You've got to play a near-perfect game. We had a good first two periods and (Wall) was holding us in it in the third. But they don't need a whole lot to score, they've got guys who can really put the puck in the net."

Leavitt and Shaun Heshka scored 45 seconds apart in the second period to give Everett a 2-1 lead. Wall finished with 45 saves.

"Wall played outstanding," Kootenay coach Cory Clouston said. "He's as solid in net right now as we've faced all year. He frustrated us at times, but we just kept patient and kept telling ourselves that eventually something would go in."

Wall's heroics nearly stole the victory. Kootenay controlled play the entire game - with the exception of a 45-second span of the second period when Alex Leavitt and Shaun Heshka scored for Everett giving the Tips a 2-1 lead. A series of stunning saves by Wall had Everett on the verge of victory.

However, with 1:28 remaining in regulation, Wall could only look on helplessly as Mike Busto's shot from the right point deflected off traffic in front right to Adam Cracknell in the slot. Cracknell sniped a shot into the corner, tying the score and forcing overtime.

Now Everett faces the daunting task of needing to win four straight against the team that won the league's regular season championship to advance.

"You can never give up," Wall said. "The Red Sox did it last year in the ALCS. We've just got to go out there and battle. It takes four to win so we're not out of it yet."

Kootenay scored first on the power play at 10:21 of the second period. Dawes held the puck at the edge of the right circle before snapping off a shot that deflected off traffic in front and found the back corner, making it 1-0 with his third goal of the playoffs.

But a moment of inspiration from Zach Hamill allowed the Tips to tie it at 13:23. Hamill picked up the puck along the left side in the neutral zone, maneuvered his way past a defender and backhanded a pass across the crease to Leavitt, who redirected the puck into the upper corner, making it 1-1 with his fifth of the playoffs.

The home crowd was now in the game and the fans had more reason to celebrate a mere 45 seconds later. The puck came out to Heshka at the edge of the right circle. He controlled the puck, wound up and slapped a shot that found the far corner, making it 2-1 with his second of the playoffs.

Slap shots: Both teams fielded the same 20 players as in Game 2. For Everett, defenseman Mitch Love (knee) and left wing Tyler Dietrich (ankle) have missed every game in the series, as has Kootenay defenseman Roman Polak (shoulder). ... Former Silvertips Jeff Harvey and John Dahl were among those in attendance Monday. ... At 73:35, Monday's game was the longest in Everett franchise history. The Tips are 6-2 in playoff overtime games.

At the Everett Events Center

Kootenay 0 1 1 1-3

Everett 0 2 0 0-2

Second Period-1, Kootenay, Dawes 3 (Sagat), 10:21 (pp). 2, Everett, Leavitt 5 (Hamill, Baranka), 13:23. 3, Everett, Heshka 2 (Billsten), 14:08.

Third Period-4, Kootenay, Cracknell 4 (Busto), 18:32.

Overtime-5, Kootenay, Taylor 3 (Sagat, Dawes), 13:35.

Shots on goal-Kootenay 14-6-18-10-48. Everett 4-4-8-3-19. Power-play opportunities-Kootenay 1 of 4. Everett 0 of 3.

Goalies-Kootenay, Glass 7-2 (19 shots, 17 saves). Everett, Wall 4-6 (48 shots, 45 saves).

Tipped Off
04-12-2005, 09:09 AM
From the Seattle Times - 4/12


Ice pushes Silvertips to brink

By J.R. Rardon

Special to The Seattle Times

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EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips are down to their last chance.

Adam Cracknell scored the tying goal with a minute and a half left in regulation, and Adam Taylor deflected home the winner at 13:35 of overtime last night as the Kootenay Ice topped Everett 3-2 and grabbed a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Hockey League playoff series.

"Our team likes to do things the hard way," said Alex Leavitt, who scored one of two second-period goals as the Silvertips jumped to a 2-1 lead. "That one really stings."

The Silvertips do not have long to dwell on the heartbreaking loss. The teams face off again tonight at 7:05 at the Events Center for Game 4, with Everett needing a win to extend its season and force Game 5 on Friday in Cranbrook, B.C.

Kootenay, the top-seeded team after winning the Western Conference regular-season title, outshot the Silvertips 48-19. Everett goaltender Mike Wall stopped 45 shots in an often-brilliant performance, but it wasn't enough.

"We've said all along they're a good team," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "You've got to play a near-perfect game."

Taylor ended the marathon just seconds after the Silvertips killed off an Ice power play. Kootenay forward Martin Sagat threaded a shot from the point to the head of the crease, where Taylor reached in to deflect it off Wall and into the net.

With Everett leading 2-1 and a crowd of more than 5,000 poised to begin partying as the clock ticked down in regulation, Cracknell punched home a rebound shot with 1:28 remaining to send the game into overtime.

The shot came just as the Ice pulled goalie Jeff Glass for an extra attacker, but before that skater had joined the attack.

"All losses are difficult," Constantine said. "As you get into the playoffs it's even more difficult. Giving it up with a minute to go is especially tough."

The overtime was the third straight for Everett at home in the playoffs. They went 1-1 against Portland in home overtime games en route to a seven-game win of the first-round series.

The Silvertips had generated little offense before Leavitt and Shaun Heshka scored goals less than a minute apart to erase a brief 1-0 deficit late in the second period.

Jovorock
04-12-2005, 09:28 AM
Was the too many men penalty a good call? Game winning goal seven second after the man got out of the box, man thats tough. Being out shot 48-19 is pretty bad, was the play that lopsided?

Tipped Off
04-12-2005, 09:32 AM
I'd say the Tips had about 10 more decent shots than were posted, just none of them were touched up by Glass. the play was pretty lopsided....probably about what you would expect when you pit a 100 point team versus a 50-60 point team. I just posted about the too many men penalty in another thread.

ihlemic10
04-12-2005, 11:00 AM
I can't get why at OUR Arena they don't count OUR shots correctly. Take the SOG and add 5 to it and you'll have the right number. I know thats still a low number but the scorekeepers have problems counting our shots. Also Kooteny has a few extra, there were some dump-in's by them that Wall never touched that were considered a Shot. How many times at the EEC has it been where our first counted shot is a goal? Maybe the scorekeepers need to do a better job, they are only making the other goalie look worse if he gives a few up.

Chipper
04-12-2005, 11:10 AM
Nice to read these sports writers views of the game. I just don't get how Nigel is getting the bad wrap of being a diver I can't think over the last four years of any time that he would delibretly dive. He was most sportsman like player of the year two years in a row, unles he plays a totaly diferent game on the road. imo he fights off checks so hard to break free that he looses his balance or is hooked and go's down . What was your opinion Tipped Off?


"When he isn't taking dives like Greg Louganis, Nigel Dawes is as dangerous as any player in the league. Behind the net, he can find teammates streaking goalward for startlingly quick shots. One time, Dawes, unimpeded, zipped a pass to Cracknell, who immediately slapped a laser at Wall".