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Tri-City Americans

Tri-City Skates Past Portland 6-2

March 10, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


KENNEWICK, WA - Tired and worn-out from the road and loss of an hour due to Daylight Savings, the Tri-City Americans still managed to do what was needed to stay in the hunt for their first U.S. Division title.

Taylor Procyshen had two goals and three points, Colton Yellow Horn eclipsed the 90-point total for the season and the Tri-City Americans (49-16-2-2, 102 pts) skated past the Portland Winter Hawks (10-56-2-1, 23 pts) 6-2 in front of 5,122 fans at Toyota Center. For the Americans, it was their second straight win, as they kept pace with the Spokane Chiefs, who defeated Seattle 2-1. The two remained tied in points atop the U.S. Division. Meanwhile, the 'Hawks suffered their first loss since snapping their 22-game losing streak. Tri-City finished with an 8-1 record the nine-game season series with Portland.

Despite out shooting the 'Hawks 14 to 5 in the first period, the Americans did not get on the scoreboard until the 6:49 mark of the first period. Brett Plouffe let a slap shot go that found its way past Portland netminder, Jordan White, for the game's first goal. But, less than a minute later, Portland countered when Luke Walker picked-up his eight goal of the season on a Colin Reddin rebound. However, Tri-City retook the lead for good with just over 10 minutes remaining in the period. Mitch McColm collected his first WHL goal when a rebound slipped through White's pads and right to him at the near post.

With only a one-goal lead headed into the second period, the Americans turned it on, offensively. Tri-City held Portland to just two shots on goal, while they were able to increase their lead with two goals on 16 shots. At the end of 40 minutes of play, Tri-City held a 30 to 7 shot advantage. Procyshen, while on a five-minute, score-at-will power play, made it a 3-1 game with his first goal of the night with two and a half minutes remaining in the period. Less than a minute later and on the same power play, Yellow Horn tallied his League-leading 47th goal of the season, making it a 4-1 game. The five-minute major penalty came at the 14:26 mark when Portland's Reddin was called for kneeing.

The Winter Hawks doubled their shot out put in the third period, but it was not enough as Tri-City would score twice more in the final frame. Adam Hughesman collected his seventh goal in his last 10 games at the 6:09 mark. Procyshen then capped the Americans' scoring, with his second of the night and 31st goal of the season 90 seconds later. With less than six minutes remaining in regulation, Portland added one more tally, courtesy of team-leading scorer, Travis Ehrhardt. White finished the night with 38 saves on 44 shots in the loss, while Chet Pickard and Kyle Birch combined for 19 saves in the win. It was Pickard's League-leading 43rd win of the season. Tri-City finished 2-for-5 on the power play and was a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The race for the U.S. Division and playoff seeding comes down to the final week of the regular season. Tri-City will take Monday off before they return to the ice and prepare to take on the rival Everett Silvertips on Wednesday, March 12. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Comcast Arena. Everett is the only team in the Western Conference to have a winning record against Tri-City this season and have won their last three match-ups with the Americans. It will be Tri-City's final road game of the regular season, having gone 22-10-2-1 away from home this season, which ties them for third-best in the League. You can catch all the action live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Budweiser Warm-up Show at 6:50 p.m. The game will also be broadcast live, via WHL WebTV, at the Americans' home away from home, Kimo's Sports Café and R.F. McDougall's in Richland.

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