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Everett Silvertips

Portland too much for Silvertips 7-4

September 19, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Everett Silvertips News Release


EVERETT, Wash. - Skyler McKenzie and Blake Heinrich each scored twice and added an assist to help lead the Portland Winterhawks wire-to-wire, 7-4 in preseason action over the Everett Silvertips on Friday at XFINITY Arena.

The Silvertips (4-2-0) dropped their first preaseason home loss in four games, falling behind 3-1 after the first period but nearly rallying from three goals down in the final 20 minutes, including an apparent game-tying goal, waved off for newcomer Brandon Ralph. Remi Laurencelle, Carson Stadnyk, Ralph and Fonteyne each scored for the Silvertips, who helped pump 47 shots on Portland goaltender Michael Bullion (who was playing without a backup). Bullion turned in a 43-save effort.

McKenzie lifted Portland (4-3-0) to a 1-0 lead at 1:50 on a wrister from the left circle, and followed up with a snipe from the right circle that deflected off Carter Hart at 8:35 for a 2-0 edge. The Silvertips battled back after failing to score on their first power-play, a rebound goal by Laurencelle to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 8:35 remaining. But the wild period continued with Hughes burying a wrister from the left circle, catching the inside of the post with 4:47 left, building Portland's lead to 3-1.

The Silvertips and Hart (21 saves) adjusted in the second period, buoyed by a pair of impressive saves in the early few minutes. But Heinrich, driving to the right post, buried a rebound for a 4-1 advantage at 15:09 after Hart stopped McKenzie in the slot during four-on-four play.

Everett gained a much-needed tally at 4:42 of the third for a 4-2 deficit with Matt Fonteyne's third preseason goal, followed by Carson Stadnyk's pivotal power play goal at 6:11 to slice the gap to 4-3. On the face-off to begin the man advantage, Riley Sutter drew the puck back to Cole MacDonald, whose point shot seared through traffic and was stashed by Stadnyk at the right post.

Ralph, the apparent beneficiary of an outnumbered rush, corralled a centering pass and whistled a snap shot past Bullion, generating celebration throughout XFINITY Arena. But the officials negated the apparent goal, allowed play to continue, and Heinrich took advantage of the counter attack with a wrister past Hart at 10:52, bumping Portland's lead back to two.

The Silvertips pulled Hart for a sixth attacker after a timeout with three minutes remaining and generated sustained pressure in the offensive zone, but lost the puck to a deflection at the blueline and Heinrich connected with Cody Glass, behind the defense for an empty net goal with 2:04 left.

Ralph answered on the next shift, eight seconds later and deflected Graham Millar's rebound past Bullion for a 6-4 game, but Jack Flaman closed the scoring with Portland's second empty-netter with 15 seconds remaining.

NOTES: The Silvertips scratched Noah Juulsen, Alexander Scherbakov, Bryce Kindopp, Bryan King, Spencer Gerth, Gunnar Wegleitner, Mackenzie Dwyer and Austin Lotz ... Everett fell behind a man just once in the game and killed the penalty, moving to 23 of 24 in penalty killing for the preseason ... Leedahl leads the Silvertips in preseason scoring with six points (2g-4a) in five games.

SILVERTIPS LINES

Leedahl - Laurencelle - Stadnyk

Bajkov - Fonteyne - Khomenko

Ralph - Skoleski - Millar

Dewar - Sutter - Mallonee

SILVERTIPS PAIRINGS

Skrumeda - Leslie

MacDonald - Davis

Christiansen - Pfeifer

The Silvertips conclude preseason play tomorrow at XFINITY Arena, hosting the Victoria Royals at 7:05 p.m. Tickets for general admission seating are available for $13 (fees may apply) at the Silvertips business offices or the XFINITY Arena box office during normal business hours.

For more information visit www.everettsilvertips.com or call 425-252-5100. To keep up with all the latest team news and information, "like" the Everett Silvertips Hockey Club on Facebook or follow @WHLSilvertips on Twitter.

Check out the Everett Silvertips Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 19, 2015


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