Silvertips trip uninspired Chiefs

The Spokane Chiefs looked like a tired and uninspired team playing its third game in four nights.

Spokane came out flat, went downhill from there, but then rallied before falling to the Everett Silvertips 2-1 in a Western Hockey League game at the Arena on Friday night before 6,018.

Everett, on the other hand, looked like a team eager to string together consecutive wins after Spokane started it on a six-game losing streak two weeks ago. The Silvertips, though not spectacular, played with more energy. They had been idle since a win Sunday at Tri-City.

Speaking of Tri-City, the Americans come to the Arena tonight just one point behind Spokane (17-25-5-3, 45 points) for fourth place in the U.S. Division. It will be a game between two teams fighting for the last playoff spot. The Ams (18-24-5-3, 44) were a 4-0 winner over Prince George on Friday.

The Chiefs will have to play better if they are to hold onto fourth.

“It’s definitely disappointing; we let a couple of points go tonight,” said Jeff Lynch, who had Spokane’s goal. “Every point is crucial right now.”

Spokane had only a few bursts of life and, for the most part, played into Everett’s style of a slowdown game.

“We didn’t have the start we wanted, but we came at them in the third period,” said Lynch, who disregarded fatigue as a justification for the effort. “We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to work hard and compete harder. That’s no excuse.”

Everett struck first, getting a goal just 8 minutes, 42 seconds into the game from Tyler Dietrich. It came when Shaun Heshka threw the puck across the crease from the right circle to Dietrich, who waited unwatched by the left post. He easily buried it into the half-open net.

The second goal also came from a breakdown by Spokane and a nice play by Jonathan Harty, as Everett extended its lead to 2-0 at 10:21 of the second period.

Harty had a breakaway that was defended by Spokane defenseman Joe Logan, who went to the ice just a few feet in front of the crease. Harty turned the corner past Logan as goalie Jim Watt went down and defended the near post. But Harty held the puck as he crossed the crease and easily scored into the open half of the net.

On paper, the Chiefs were tied with Everett in shots on goal after two periods, 18-18 (and finished with a 23-22 advantage), but it was not a true indicator of the closeness of the game. Spokane was being outplayed badly.

The Chiefs gave themselves a chance in the third, when Lynch willed in a goal at 4:30 of the period on a power play. Lynch’s goal gave the Chiefs a brief burst of energy, but they seemed to quickly fade.

The Chiefs pulled Watt for most of the last 1:33, but came up short with the extra attacker. Watt stopped 20 shots.

Michael Wall made 22 saves in goal for Everett.

Everett 2, Spokane 1

First period–1, Ev, Dietrich 13 (Heshka Leavitt) 8:42.

Second period– 2, Ev, Harty 2 (Thoring, Wuchterl) 10:01.

Third period– 3, Spo, Je Lynch 14 (Ryan, Logan) 4:58 (pp).

Power-play opportunities–Everett 0 of 6; Spokane 1 of 3. Saves–Everett, Wall 6-12-4–22. Spokane, Watt 10-6-4–20. A–6,018.