WHL Tri-City Americans

Americans Slip Past Raiders 3-2; Claim First Road Victory

Published on October 3, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


PRINCE ALBERT, SK - The Tri-City Americans dodged a bullet Friday night in Saskatchewan.

As time expired, Bryce Lamb thought he tied the game for Prince Albert. But, referee Nathan Wieler overturned the call, thus ending a wild contest that saw the Tri-City Americans (3-1-0-0, 6 pts) slip away with a 3-2 victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders (3-3-0-0, 6 pts). In their only regular season match-up, the controversial call gave Tri-City their fourth straight victory and snapped Prince Albert's two-game winning streak.

The Raiders came out strong to start the contest. Midway through the first period, Prince Albert picked up two goals in a two-minute span, courtesy of Ryan McDonald and James Dobrowolski.

But, the Americans continued to battle and, while on the penalty kill late in the period, Drew Hoff collected a loose puck and took off on a breakaway. Hoff's shorthanded goal, which ricocheted off Raiders' goaltender Steven Stanford's glove and into the net, was his first of the 2008-09 season.

Tri-City carried their momentum into the second period, as they went back on the power play just 1:51 into the period. As the power play expired, Americans' rookie Jordan Messier was able to slam home a loose puck in the crease, notching his first WHL goal and tying the game at 2.

The Americans' special teams struck again, this time connecting on the power play off the stick of Tyler Schmidt. With less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Schmidt let a slap shot go from the midpoint and beat Stanford top shelf, putting Tri-City ahead 3-2. Unfortunately, the game was far from over.

Prince Albert took a costly penalty with 1:12 remaining in regulation, putting Tri-City on the power play and keeping Stanford in the net. But, with 20 seconds remaining, Schmidt took a tripping penalty, which allowed Prince Albert to pull Stanford for the extra attacker. After just missing an empty net with less than five seconds remaining, Taylor Procyshen's long ice shot went for icing and set up a face-off in the Tri-City zone.

The Raiders' won the face-off and, after Tri-City goaltender Chet Pickard made a save, Prince Albert's Andy Smith redirected the rebound to Lamb, who thought he had tied the game as time expired. But, after a conference with his linesmen, Wieler overturned the goal, handing Tri-City the win.

Pickard picked up his first win of the season and finished with 22 saves. Meanwhile, Stanford stopped 27 of the 30 shots he saw in the loss. Tri-City was 1-of-6 on the man-advantage and went a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

With their first road win of the season in their pocket, Tri-City now heads 80 miles south to take on the Saskatoon Blades tomorrow, Saturday, October 4. Game time is 6:05 p.m. at Credit Union Centre. Last season, Tri-City defeated the Blades 3-1 at Toyota Center in their lone meeting of the season. The Americans are looking to win back-to-back games against Saskatoon for the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons. You can catch all the action live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Sterling Savings Bank Warm-up Show at 5:50 p.m. (PST).

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 3, 2008


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