Irving Stops 53 in Shootout Win Over Spokane
Leland Irving turned in his signature performance of the 2007-08 season by turning aside 53 of 55 shots through overtime as well as two of three in the shootout as the Everett Silvertips erased a late deficit and defeated the Spokane Chiefs 3-2 Friday night at Comcast Arena. Kyle Beach scored in both regulation and the shootout while adding an assist to lead the team to its fourth consecutive victory. With the win, Everett improves to 33-25-0-2 and maintains sixth place in the conference, one point behind the Seattle Thunderbirds and four behind the Kelowna Rockets.
After a scoreless first period in which Everett killed three late penalties en route to being outshot 16-4, the second period featured consistent end-to-end action in which the teams combined for 38 shots, 21 by the Chiefs. It was Spokane that jumped ahead 1-0 late in the second after a deflection put the puck directly on Judd Blackwater’s stick in front of an open net as he redirected the puck past Irving on the power play at 14:11. Three minutes and 27 seconds later, Kyle Beach chipped a loose puck past Dustin Tokarski at the 17:38 mark following a Vitaly Karamnov shot. Shane Harper provided the secondary assist.
The teams played tighter hockey in the third period, though Spokane had over fifty shots on net when Graham Potuer was sent off for a holding penalty at 13:59. Just seven seconds into the power play, Blackwater took a pass from David Rutherford at the top of the circles and blasted the puck just underneath the crossbar to put Spokane ahead 2-1 at the 14:06 mark as the Chiefs were to finish 2/6 with the man advantage.
Following a time-out, Irving was pulled with just over 1:30 to play as Everett found immediate pressure against Tokarski and the Chiefs and found repeated opportunities down low. After Beach and Harper were rebuffed by Tokarski on their attempts during a hectic scrum in the crease, Hamill flipped a rebound past the goaltender to tie the game at two at the 18:43 mark. The game remained tied through overtime as Spokane finished with a 55-31 advantage in shots.
In the shootout, Beach and Dan Gendur tallied goals on shots that bean Tokarski down low to put pressure on Spokane’s #2 shooter, Drayson Bowman. Bowman converted on a low snapshot to the left of Irving before Zack Hamill was denied for Everett in the third round. The game then rested in the hands of David Rutherford, who deked several times but was never able to get Irving out of his stance as he was unable to get a shot off, cementing Everett’s 3-2 victory. Everett is now 8-2 in games that extend past regulation, including a 4-2 mark in the shootout.
SHOOTOUT:
Everett (shot first)
Kyle Beach – Goal
Dan Gendur – Goal
Zach Hamill – Save
Spokane
Jared Spurgeon – Save
Drayson Bowman – Goal
David Rutherford – Miss
POWER PLAYS
Everett – 0/4
Spokane – 2/6
EVERETT POINTS
Kyle Beach – 2 (G, A)
Shane Harper – 2 (2 A)
Zach Hamill – 1 (G)
Vitaly Karamnov – 1 (A)
EVERETT STARTING LINE UP
G – Leland Irving
D – Jonathan Harty
D – Graham Potuer
LW – Lukas Vartovnik
C – Zach Dailey
RW – Matt Ius
Attendance – 6,176
