EVERETT — The weekend that was for the Everett Silvertips is a tough one to gauge.

On the one hand, Everett took four of a possible six points from its first three-in-three weekend of the season.

On the other, the Tips didn’t play particularly well, culminating in Sunday’s 7-1 thrashing at Portland.

“The weekend was terribly inconsistent,” was Everett coach Kevin Constantine’s evaluation following Tuesday afternoon’s practice at the Comcast Community Rink.

Everett, which went into the weekend with the third-best winning percentage in the WHL, started the weekend with home victories over Portland and Kamloops, both of which came in shootouts. Then came Sunday’s fiasco in which the Tips were blown out for the first time this season. Prior to Sunday’s game Everett had lost just twice in regulation in 19 outings, and both those prior regulation defeats came in close contests.

“We didn’t play very well,” Constantine said about Sunday’s game. “We actually had a good first 10 minutes, we got a lead and were outshooting them and outchancing them, so it was the right start. But from the last part of the first and in the second and third we didn’t play well.”

Part of the reason for the heavy defeat was fatigue. Everett was playing its third game in three nights, with the previous two having gone the maximum amount of extra time as they featured two shootouts, including Saturday’s 15-round epic. Meanwhile, a rested Portland was waiting for the Tips as the Winterhawks had Saturday night off.

“A little bit of it was three-in-three nights, and they were rested,” Constantine said. “My favorite schedule is playing every other day, so they had the perfect schedule while we had the hardest. That was a factor, but it wasn’t the whole factor. It didn’t mean we should have played as poorly as we did in the second and third, so there’s some issues we have to own up to as a team.

“There’s a formula that works for this team, but it’s a script that’s got to be followed reasonably close,” Constantine added. “If you picked five or six or 10 things that that formula is, there were too many of those things missing in the game.”

The game also featured an early exit for Constantine. The score was tied 1-1 late in the first period when Everett’s Ivan Nikolishin took a hit into the boards, with Constantine incensed that no penalty was called. Nineteen seconds later Portland scored to take the lead. In the aftermath Constantine argued with the referee and was given a bench minor and a game misconduct. Then just 26 seconds into the resulting power play the Winterhawks scored again to make it 3-1 and begin the rout.

“(The loss) was partly my own issue,” acknowledged Constantine, who was fined $500 by the league for the game misconduct. “I took a penalty that cost us a goal.

“It was just trying to protect our players, that’s all.”

That loss capped off what was an up-and-down weekend for the Tips. Everett was dominated in the first period of Friday’s home game against Portland, fell behind 3-1, rallied to tie it with a strong second period, then had to hold on in the third before winning in the shootout. Against Kamloops on Saturday the Tips dominated the first period to take a 2-0 lead, then played the rest of the game on their heels before the Blazers finally tied it with one second remaining in regulation.

Everett was outshot 17-3 in the third period against Kamloops, and Constantine said the Tips were held without a scoring chance in the third period of both games against Portland.

So even though the weekend worked out in terms of the standings for Everett, the Tips have some correcting to do to their play.

“Even within games there was inconsistency,” Constantine said. “We have to search for the answers to that and respond the right way to the inconsistencies.”

Slap shots

Winger Dawson Leedahl has returned to Everett. Leedahl was home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the past couple weeks recuperating from his knee injury. He will be re-evaluated on a regular basis with the hope of returning to action sometime in December. … Center Remi Laurencelle returned to practice Tuesday, though he wore a non-contact jersey. Laurencelle hasn’t played since Nov. 5 because of an ankle injury. Winger Nik Malenica, who sat out the weekend with an upper-body injury, was a full participant in practice.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.