Chiefs sweep Silvertips

EVERETT — It was a bizarre strategy, an act of pure desperation, and it nearly worked for the Everett Silvertips.

Facing elimination and needing a spark, the Silvertips benched starting goaltender Leland Irving. Backup Shayne Barrie played inspired hockey, but it wasn't quite enough as the Spokane Chiefs won 3-2 in overtime to sweep the opening round Western Hockey League series four games to none.

The end came 12:21 into the extra period when Mitch Wahl touched a pass from Jared Spurgeon just enough for it to trickle into the net and end Everett's season.

The goal ruined a stirring comeback effort by the Silvertips, down 2-0 midway through the final period. Everett got close on a goal by Graham Potuer at 12:20 of the third period and tied it on a score by Jonathan Harty with 54.7 seconds left in regulation.

"I'm proud of our guys, down 2-0 in the third period it would have been easy to quit," Everett coach John Becanic said. "We lost to a real good hockey team. There is no shame losing to that team. We played with every ounce of energy we had and just came up a little bit short."

Barrie had 32 saves in a high-spirited game by both teams and very nearly helped the Silvertips take a game off the Chiefs, who had won 50 games in the regular season.

"Down 3-0, you're just looking for something," Becanic said. "Shayne was outstanding and we would have loved to have got a win for him, just because of how hard he played."

Wahl's goal came after Everett missed several opportunities to clear the puck out of its zone.

"We blocked three shots in a row there and every one we blocked bounced right back to them," Becanic said. "Let's face it, we had our chances."

The Silvertips had 50 seconds of five-on-three in overtime and had several good looks, but were unable to convert. A hard shot by Kyle Beach hit the post.

The Silvertips came out flying, but were unable to bury any of their scoring chances early. Spokane's Judd Blackwater put the Chiefs ahead when he bounced a puck off the back of Barrie on a wraparound and then tapped in the rebound.

The Silvertips missed chances in the second and third periods before Levko Koper put in a rebound after a nice glove save by Barrie at 11:06 of the third period to make it 2-0.

The Chiefs advance to play the Vancouver Giants in the second round.

Note

• Kelowna captain James McEwan has been suspended for one game by the WHL, and will miss tonight's Game 6 in the best-of-seven series in Kelowna. McEwan, who played two seasons in Seattle, tackled T-birds goaltender Riku Helenius after Seattle's 6-2 win Thursday at KeyArena that gave Seattle a 3-2 lead.

Playoff series
Spokane wins best-of-seven Western Hockey League playoff series with Everett, 4-0
#	Result
1	Spokane 5, Everett 2
2	Spokane 4, Everett 1
3	Spokane 4, Everett 1
4	Spokane 3, Everett 2 (OT)

SPOKANE 3, SILVERTIPS 2 (OT)

Spokane	1 0 1 1 -- 3
Everett	0 0 2 0 -- 2

First -- 1. Spokane, Blackwater 3, 18:56. Second -- No scoring. Third -- 2. Spokane, Koper 2 (Johnson) 11:06; 3. Everett, Potuer 1 (Harty, Karamnov) 12:20; 4. Everett, Harty 2 (Harper, Gendur) 19:05 (pp). Overtime -- 5. Spokane, Wahl 2 (Spurgeon) 12:21. Shots -- Spokane 10-13-8-4 -- 35; Everett 9-3-16-7 -- 35. Goal -- Spokane: Tokarski (W,4-0-0-0); Everett: Barrie (L,0-0-1-0). Power plays (goals-chances) -- Spokane: 0-5; Everett: 1-6. A -- 5,404.