Sports stats



WHL Tri-City Americans

Americans fall on the road to Chiefs

September 29, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


Spokane, WA. - The Tri-City Americans (1-1-1-0) had plenty of high quality scoring chances Saturday night, but Spokane Chiefs (3-1-0-0) goalie Dawson Cowan turned in a stellar performance as the Americans fell 4-1 at the Spokane Arena.

The Chiefs came out strong in the opening minutes of the game, jumping out to a 7-2 lead on the shot clock. Lukas Matecha stood his ground in the early going, keeping the game scoreless.

After two power plays, the Americans found themselves shorthanded and Spokane opened the scoring on a power play of their own.

Rasmus Ekstrom worked his way into the Tri-City zone before stepping around a defenseman and lifting the puck over the glove of Matecha with 4:57 remaining in the period. The goal came with just five seconds remaining in the Chiefs power play.

Tri-City's best scoring chance came in the final minute of the period when Gavin Garland had a short breakaway inside the Chiefs zone, but was denied by Dawson Cowan as Spokane took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Americans went to their third power play of the game early in the second period and tied the game. Cruz Pavao let a shot go from the right circle that Cowan stopped, but the rebound went right to Brandon Whynott who fired home his third goal of the year just 3:15 into the second.

The game didn't stay tied for long however as Spokane regained the lead just over a minute later. After missing the net on a two-on-one rush, the puck sat behind the Americans goal while Lukas Matecha was stretched out across the crease to his glove-side post.

Shea Van Olm gathered the puck behind the net and tucked it inside the other post to restore the Chiefs lead at 2-1.

Both teams ran into penalty trouble in the second period and eventually the Chiefs found themselves on a four-on-three man advantage. During the sequence Brayden Crampton let a shot go from the blue line that was tipped in by Van Olm, pushing the Spokane lead to 3-1 midway through the period.

Jake Sloan had an excellent chance to cut into the lead as he took a pass off the rush and tried to step across the crease to slide the puck in, but Cowan stabbed out his left leg and denied the Americans captain of his third goal of the season.

Spokane took a 3-1 lead into the intermission despite Tri-City outshooting them 24-19.

The third period didn't feature as many high-quality scoring chances as Spokane started to clamp down defensively with their lead. Asanali Sarkenov added to the Chiefs advantage with his first WHL goal halfway through the period, pushing the final score to 4-1.

The Americans now turn their attention to the Ferguson Waterworks home opener, set for Saturday, October 5 against the Kelowna Rockets.

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...

Western Hockey League Stories from September 29, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central