EVERETT — It was a familiar scene at Angel of the Winds Arena on Sunday.

Jaxsin Vaughan crashed into the offensive zone, drawing a tripping penalty — then delivering a hit against the transgressor — to put the Everett Silvertips on the power play early in the first period against the Spokane Chiefs.

On the man advantage, Vaughan fired a shot from the right circle on Spokane goalie Carter Esler, who also stopped defenseman Brek Liske’s look from the left side of the zone moments later. Everett teed up one final chance at the net front before the penalty expired, but could not cash in.

Fans of last year’s team grew accustomed to seeing Everett pile up shots against opponents on a nightly basis, and even if a power play came up empty, a goal would still be on the horizon more often than not.

But that was last year, and the familiar start quickly flipped into the new reality.

Just over a minute after the power play ended, Spokane jumped ahead 1-0. The Silvertips (2-1-1-1, 6 points) committed back-to-back penalties late in the first period, which helped the Chiefs (5-0-0-0, 10 points) take a 21-5 shots on goal advantage through 20 minutes. The visitors carried that momentum to two power-play goals in the second period en route to a 3-1 win.

Sunday marked back-to-back losses for Everett, which still picked up a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to Wenatchee on Saturday. However, last year’s Silvertips never lost two consecutive games in any fashion. Given all the departures from last season’s WHL Championship-winning squad — and with 12 rookies on this year’s roster — a different look was inevitable. That said, Everett coach Steve Hamilton wants to see his team get reacquainted with those familiar habits sooner than later.

“Tonight was a lesson,” Hamilton said. “I thought we were not the better team. I didn’t think we were the harder-working team either, which is something that I haven’t said very often in my time in Everett. So our guys have to learn that when you’re on the back-to-back, the second game is equally important. We were really pleased with the effort 24 hours ago, and then we fast forward, and I thought it was average at best. I think our guys know that as well.”

The Silvertips went 1-for-6 on the power play, with Liske scoring the lone goal at 11:54 of the third period, and the penalty kill went 4-for-6 in a busy night for both special teams units. Starting goaltender Jayden Kraus made 30 saves before exiting at 14:39 of the second period, shortly after Spokane forward Ethan Hughes collided with him off a rush. Bennett Byers stopped all 11 shots he faced in 24:11 of relief.

Everett appeared to be on the right track following its first power-play opportunity, but Chiefs forward Owen Martin broke open the scoring with a rebound from the right side at 6:53 of the first period.

“We had some movement and some good shots,” Silvertips captain Jaxsin Vaughan told The Herald. “And then I think as (the power play) ended, we just got some guys kind of stuck out there, and then they, I guess, had a good shot and a rebound, and there was a guy there that wasn’t covered obviously. So I think it was just kind of maybe getting trapped out there when we were looking for one ourselves.”

With the lead in hand, Spokane kicked into another gear, but Kraus stood on his head to keep it a one-goal deficit, even after Everett committed back-to-back penalties, with the second coming just 43 seconds after the first ended.

After stopping a Tyus Sparks shot from the left circle, Kraus came up with another stop on a shot from the slot. The 19-year-old acquired from Brandon in the offseason used his pad to keep out another shot from the point as well as the rebound opportunity in front before ending the barrage with a save on Martin from behind the right circle. When the dust settled, Everett entered the locker room in a much better spot than it could have been.

“He was our best player in the first period-and-a-half,” Hamilton said about Kraus. “Typically, I wouldn’t say that that’s been something the last few years here where we needed our goalie to really bail us out over and over again. But again, the function of where we’re at. We’re going to have some lessons this year.”

Everett forward Henry Meier put a shot on goal early in the second period to try and spark some momentum, but a Luke Vlooswyk cross check behind the Silvertips net put the home team back on the penalty kill at 3:56. Everett nearly killed it off, but Brody Gillespie managed to slip a shot past the far post with one second remaining to make it 2-0 at 5:55.

The Silvertips showed life in the middle of the second period, as Vaughan crashed the net to try to jam a puck through. The 20-year-old’s helmet wound up in the back of the net, but Esler kept the puck out as Vaughan had to skate to the bench without his lid. Clarke Schaefer followed up with a shot from the left side along the goal line nearly 15 seconds later, but Esler shrugged that away too.

Everett’s momentum was dashed by another penalty at 11:18, called on defenseman Bode Laylin for tripping, and the Chiefs capitalized when Gavin Burcar punched in a centering pass from the slot to extend the lead to 3-0 at 12:57. Kraus had stayed in the game after his collision with Hughes at 10:15, but he exited less than two minutes after allowing the third goal because “he wasn’t right,” and needed to get checked out by the training staff, according to Hamilton.

The Silvertips received a second power-play opportunity at 16:47, but did not score. Spokane even jumped on a 2-on-1 rush while short-handed, but Byers came up with the save.

By the time it reached the third period, any effort to start a comeback was stifled by more penalties, with defenseman Mattias Uyeda getting called for high sticking at 4:08, and Laylin heading to the box at 7:58 for cross checking.

“It slows down momentum. It’s a little annoying,” Liske said about the slog of penalties. “But nothing you can do about it. I mean, we try and almost reverse it. Have a good kill and we’re ready to go. Kill it off, there’s some momentum. We try and look at it that way, so we did the best we could to use it to our advantage, almost.”

Everett received another break when Nathan Meyers got called for interference at 12:10, but Schaefer retaliated by dropping the gloves, which earned him two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct on top of the five for fighting each player received to keep it at even strength. It ultimately would not be too consequential, as the Chiefs would commit three more penalties in the final seven minutes.

Liske cashed in on the first of three, ripping a wrister while rolling down the right side to cut it to 3-1 at 11:54, but the power play came up empty on the remaining opportunities to make that the final. Through five games, the Silvertips’ power play is 3-for-19 (15.8%), which is tied for 16th in the league as of Sunday.

“The fact that we were playing harder in the third period, at least we’re getting calls because we’re forcing another team to play harder,” Hamilton said. “First two periods, I didn’t think we did that very well. Third period, I think we dug in a little bit more and had some more contributors. Power play is a little messy right now, and it’s going to be a work-in-progress, as is our entire team. …

“I really do believe that our ceiling here can be as high as we want to take it, but that’s going to require contributions throughout the lineup.”

Everett will not be back at Angel of the Winds Arena until Nov. 6. In between, the team will embark on an 11-game road trip through eastern Washington and up to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. For a team with as many new faces as the Silvertips have, the leadership group hopes the trip can serve as a key bonding experience that will set them up for the rest of the season.

However, as much as the players will be on a bus over the next few weeks, Hamilton will not tolerate any passengers once they take the ice.

“I’m excited for that,” Vaughan said. “I like having these trips earlier in the year. It kind of helps you get to know everyone a little better, and you’re kind of stuck with everyone and don’t have a choice. So it’s good to really get together as a group, and then when you’re winning some games on these road trips, it really helps bring you together.”