Americans Sneak By T-Birds
September 27, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
Kennewick, WA Setpember 26, 2008 - The Tri-City Americans defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-3 Friday night at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.
Adam Hughesman scored at 12:03 of the first period to put the Americans up 1-0. Kruise Reddick and Taylor Procyshen had the assists.
Seattle quickly came back and tied the game 1-1 on an ingenious play from Devon LeBlanc. The left winger broke up the ice on a two-on-one with Jeremy Boyer. LeBlanc carried the puck towards the Tri-City goal and looked like he was taking the puck behind the net. At the right post he backhanded the puck off Americans goalie Drew Owsley and into the net. David Richard put Seattle (0-3-0-0) in front 2-1 at 16:54 of the first with a power-play goal. He knocked down a Tri-City clearing attempt in the high slot. Richard beat Owsley with a quick shot over the goalie's glove for his first goal of the year.
Tri-City (2-0-0-0) outshot Seattle 14-8 in the first period.
Tri-City tied the game 2-2 at 12:12 of the second period when Justin Feser scored. Jason Reese and Johnny Lazo had the assists.
Both teams had four shots on goal in the second period and the Americans led in total shots, 18-14, after two periods.
Hughesman scored nine seconds into the third period to give the Americans a 3-2 lead. Procyshen had the only assist on the goal.
The Americans took a 4-2 lead at 9:54 of the third when Petr Stoklasa scored. Blair Macauley had an assist on the goal.
Seattle cut the Americans lead to one goal when Richard scored a power-play goal at 12:48 of the third. Stefan Warg sent the puck behind the Americans net to Lindsay Nielsen. Nielsen centered the puck to Richard to the left of the goal. Richard beat Owsley low for his second goal of the night.
Jason Reese scored 12 seconds after Richard's second goal to put the Americans back in front by two goals. Feser had the only assist on the goal.
Tri-City outshot Seattle 12-9 in the t hird period and 30- 23 in the game.
Seattle goalie Jacob DeSerres stopped 25 of 30 shots in his first start of the season. DeSerres returned from the Training Camp of the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the week.
Owsley made 20 saves on 23 shots to get the win.
The T-Birds remain on the road for their next game. They travel to Everett on Saturday, September 27, to take on the Silvertips at Comcast Arena at 7 p.m.
The first regular season home game is October 4 at KeyArena against the Spokane Chiefs at 7:05 p.m.
T-Birds season tickets are also currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T- Birds office at 425-869-7825. Purchasing a season ticket will ensure fans can attend both the home opener at the KeyArena on October 4 and the T-Birds first game in their new home, the Kent Events Center.
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