WHL Tri-City Americans

Gore, Bruins Stifle Americans 4-1

Published on March 6, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


CHILLIWACK, BC - If Friday's contest as Prospera Centre was a glimpse of a potential first round playoff series, the Tri-City Americans will need to find a way to solve Lucas Gore.

Behind a 31-save performance, Gore led the Chilliwack Bruins (30-31-1-5, 66 pts) to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans (45-19-1-2, 93 pts) in front of 3,778 fans. With the win, Gore improved to 3-0 vs. Tri-City this season as the Bruins took the four-game season series 3 to 1. It is their first season series victory over the Americans in their brief four-year history. Meanwhile, Tri-City, which went 16-0 vs. the rest of B.C. Division teams this season, fell to 3-2 on their seven-game road trip.

The Americans got off to a bad start on Friday, putting the Bruins on the power play just 1:06 into the contest. Then, 28 seconds later, Chilliwack made it count. After a poor clearing pass by Tri-City was collected by Jesse Craige, a scramble in front of Alexander Pechurskiy ensued. In the process, Pechurskiy was knocked over by a Tri-City defenseman and Roman Horak was able to capitalize, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Tri-City recovered to outshoot Chilliwack 10 to 4 through the first 20 minutes, but could not beat Gore.

Less than three minutes into the second period, the Americans' bad luck continued as Brendan Shinnimin had Gore beat but saw his shot ring off the post. The Bruins made Tri-City pay for the missed opportunity, scoring at the 5:01 mark of the period to take a 2-0 lead. This time, Jamie Crooks got around Americans defenseman Brock Sutherland and then banged in his own rebound to notch his 20th goal of the season. Then, with 4:03 remaining in the period, Chilliwack stretched their lead to three. After a great drop pass from Kevin Sundher, Dylen McKInlay fired a shot from the slot that beat Pechurskiy high on the glove side, making it 3-0.

With two minutes remaining in the second period, Brooks Macek also had a shot glance off the post, as Tri-City continued to struggle to convert on their chances.

Finally, with 6:22 remaining in regulation and on the power play, Johnny Lazo connected on a backdoor feed from Justin Feser, putting the Americans on the scoreboard. But, despite 13 shots on goal in the period, Tri-City could not get any closer. Then, with Pechurskiy pulled for the extra attacker at the 18:40 mark, Colton Grant chipped in an empty net goal to cap the scoring in the contest.

Gore, collecting 31 saves, now holds a 2.01 goals against average and a 0.950 save percentage in his three starts against Tri-City this season. Meanwhile, Pechurskiy stopped 16 of the 19 shots he saw in the loss. The Americans finished the night 1-for-4 on the power play, while Chilliwack was 1-for-1 on the man-advantage.

Elsewhere around the League, the race for the U.S. Division crown got even closer on Friday, as the Everett Silvertips scored three unanswered goals in a 3-2 comeback win over the Cougars in Prince George. The Spokane Chiefs also won, knocking off the Winterhawks 4-0 in Portland. Heading into the weekend with five games left to play, the 'Tips sit just two points back of Tri-City in the division standings, while the Chiefs are six points behind the Americans.

Tri-City will now head back across the border and make their way to the Rose City, where they will face-off against the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday, March 6. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at the Rose Garden. Against the 'Hawks, the Americans come in having won two straight and are 3-1 on the road. Meanwhile, Portland has lost eight of the nine meetings between the clubs this year and are 5-5 in their last 10 games overall. Fans can catch all the action live, via WHL WebTV, at the Americans' home away from home, Kimo's Sports Café in Richland. The game will also be broadcast live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Sterling Savings Bank Warm-up Show at 6:45 p.m.

Applebee's 3 Stars:

1, Lucas Gore, Chilliwack

2, Jamie Crooks, Chilliwack

3, Brendan Shinnimin, Tri-City

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2010


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