Rockets nip Silvertips

With one quick flick of his left leg, Adam Brown turned what could have been a loss into two points.

Brown made 36 saves for Kelowna, and Tyson Barrie scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the shootout, as the Rockets defeated the Everett Silvertips 4-3 in WHL action on Friday night. Of Brown’s stops, none was bigger than his shootout save on Landon Ferraro.

Down and out on his belly after Everett’s captain made a series of nice dekes, and Ferraro near the right faceoff circle about to go top shelf, Brown stuck up his left leg, hoping for the best. That’s exactly what happened, as, somehow, Ferraro’s shot bounced off the outside padding near Brown’s toes, preserving a 1-0 Rockets shootout lead.

“He had me beat, but then he kind of hesitated and pulled it back, so I thought he was going high. I put my pillow up there, and, luckily, he put (the puck) into it,” Brown said after stopping Ferraro, Everett’s second shooter. Brown then stoned Everett’s third shooter, Kellan Tochkin, to complete the victory.

Photo: Landon Ferraro of the Everett Silvertips, middle, positions himself between Spencer Main of the Kelowna Rockets, front, and defenceman Colton Jobke during WHL action at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., on Friday, October 21, 2010. The Rockets beat the Silvertips, 4-3 in a shootout.

The win came somewhat against the grain of play, as Everett had rallied from a 3-1 deficit midway through the third period to force overtime. The Silvertips outshot the Rockets 19-11 over the final 20 minutes, though Everett didn’t register a shot during the five-minute, four-on-four overtime session.

“Adam had a great game for us,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “Really, when our team was on its heels in the third, Adam was the difference. The way things have gone for us over the last little while, you can see nerves set in a little bit with our group. At those times, you need your goalie to be the difference, and Adam was that for us tonight.”

Mitchell Callahan, with two goals in the third period, also scored for Kelowna (4-7-0-0), which snapped a two-game losing streak. Rookie Zach Franko registered two assists for the Rockets, who opened the scoring at 4:55 of the first period with a power-play goal by Barrie.

Ferraro, with his fifth goal of the season, tallied late in the first, Manraj Hayer and Tyler Maxwell replied for Everett (5-3-1-2). After Callahan’s two quick goals in the third made it 3-1, Hayer responded by jamming in a loose puck at 9:33 of the frame, his first WHL goal to draw Everett within one. Maxwell, with his 12th, then scored on the power play to level the score.

Kent Simpson turned aside 34 shots for the Silvertips, who visit the Vancouver Giants on Saturday.

Photo: Everett Silvertips goaltender Kent Simpson, left, makes a left-leg save as he guards the left post while Cody Chikie of the Kelowna Rockets, right, buzzes the net. At rear is Everett defenceman Rasmus Rissanen.

“I thought we played a really good game tonight. It was one of our better ones,” said Ferraro. “Even through the games that we’ve one, this was one of our better ones. We played really well for 55 minutes . . . but there were a couple of breakdowns and with a team like (Kelowna), and the players they have, they’re going to take advantage of that, and they did.

“But Brown played well tonight and he made a couple of big saves. But early on, we got a lot of chances and we really didn’t make him work. We put a lot of shots into his chest and it didn’t get them on their heels like it should have. We should have made him work a bit, but I thought we played pretty good tonight.”

As for Brown’s shootout save, Ferraro said “It was one of those things where if I get it again, I’m pretty sure I can make that happen. I didn’t get it up as high as I wanted to. Him getting his leg up there, it was a heck of a move. But it’s something I’m not going to get too worried about.”

While Kelowna wound up winning, a fitting end to Friday’s result would have been a tie, as neither team truly dominated the game. Everett gave up eight power plays, and any team that hands its opponent that many extra-man advantages is asking for a beating. The Rockets cashed in with the power play, but only went 2-for-8, including two long five-on-three power plays. Teams that get opportunity served to them on a golden platter and don’t take advantage of it don’t deserve to win.

Thus, a tie would have been fitting. For the record, Everett was 1-for-4 on the power play. Also, for the most part, the Silvertips’ penalty killing was pretty structured and didn’t break down.

“The power play has struggled as of late, and we’re getting more and more chances,” said Ferraro. “That’s something we can look at and be happy about. But our penalty killing has to be good right now, because we’re taking a lot of penalties. In the last three games or so, we’ve taken way too many, and we did it again tonight.

“We were lucky that they didn’t (cash) in on too many of them . . . we have to take those chances away. Four or five chances, you can kinda handle that, but once you start going over that, it’s a lot more that you have to work for.”

As the game wore on, Everett’s pressure on Kelowna’s young squad began producing results, specifically turnovers and power plays in the third period. Brett Bulmer was fingered for tripping at 11:12, and defenceman Antoine Corbin was hit for hooking at 12:27. Just 22 seconds into their five-on-three power play, Maxwell scored.

That momentum swing shouldn’t have been surprising, as the Rockets were handed four power plays in the second period and two more early in the third. With that many calls going one way, it was just a matter of time before the extra-man advantage pendulum swung Everett’s way.

“We played really well; the boys were really going tonight,” said Brown. “They played for 60 minutes, even though we had a little bit of trouble with penalties there and they came back. But that was about it. For the most part, I thought we were all over them. It was a good 60-minute effort.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were D Brendon Wall (concussion), D Mitchell Chapman (suspension), LW Geordie Wudrick and RW Jason Siebert. Everett’s scratches were D Alex Theriau (groin), D Evan Morden, RW Markus McCrea (concussion) and C Clayton Cumiskey (concussion).