WHL Tri-City Americans

Americans Hand T'birds First Loss at ShoWare Center

January 10, 2009 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


KENT, WA - Question: Which WHL team handed the Thunderbirds their first loss in ShoWare Center?

Answer: the Tri-City Americans

Mitch Fadden registered two goals and Adam Hughesman netted the game-winner in a shootout, as the visiting Tri-City Americans (28-11-0-2, 58 pts) handed the Seattle Thunderbirds (17-21-1-3, 38 pts) their first loss in their new building, a 4-3 shootout decision. With the win, the Americans improved to 5-0 against Seattle this season and are 4-2 in shootouts this year. Meanwhile, the T'birds have now lost two straight and six of their last 10.

As the two squads battled through the first 20 minutes of play, Seattle's Lindsay Nielsen put the T'birds on top first. At the 9:37 mark of the period, Nielsen, off a pass from Chris Cloud, buried a shot from the slot, giving Seattle a brief 1-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Fadden responded with his first of two goals on the night. After a nice feed from Justin Feser, Fadden beat Seattle's Calvin Pickard, high over the glove, tying the game at 1. Pickard would dodge several bullets throughout the first period, as Tri-City clanked several shots off the goal posts.

But, in the second period, it was the Americans who needed to do the ducking, as Seattle outshot Tri-City 10 to 4 and received two power play opportunities along with a penalty shot.

At the 6:20 mark, Seattle's Jeremy Boyer was awarded the penalty shot, but missed his chance to put Seattle ahead. Then, with less than six minutes remaining and in the middle of Seattle's first power play, Taylor Procyshen took a breakout pass from Jason Reese and beat Pickard, putting Tri-City ahead 2-1. It was Procyshen's team-leading 23rd goal and third short-handed goal of the season.

Seattle, however, would not make any mistakes with their second power play chance in a four-minute span. With 2:00 remaining in the second period, Greg Scott buried a shot over Drew Owsley's glove, knotting the game at 2. Then, just 2:46 into the third period, Scott heard his name called again after beating Owsley for the second time.

The Americans, though, would not go quietly and, nearly four minutes later, Fadden tied the game at 3 after he placed a backhander past Pickard. With his two goals, Fadden now has goals in five straight games and has totaled six points in two games against his former team this season.

Down the stretch, Owsley made several key saves to keep the game deadlocked at 3 and, after a scoreless five-minute overtime, the game headed to a shootout. Appearing in his first-career shootout, Owsley stopped Scott, Prab Rai, Thomas Hickey and Jim O'Brien to set the stage for Hughesman in round four.

Owsley finished with 25 saves on 28 shots in route to his seventh win of the year. Meanwhile, Pickard collected 20 saves in the tough-luck loss. Tri-City was 0-for-2 on the power play, while Seattle was 1-for-2 on the man-advantage.

The Americans will now swim back across the Cascades and prepare to face-off against another division foe, the Portland Winter Hawks on Saturday, January 10. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Toyota Center. Portland leads 2-1 in the nine-game series and has handed Tri-City one of their three home losses this season, a 4-1 defeat back on October 31. That loss snapped Tri-City's nine-game home winning streak against the 'Hawks, a streak that dated back to December 2006. The Americans will also be looking to pick-up win #100 in their 21-year history with Portland...a series they lead 99-77-12-1 with 9 ties. Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Toyota Center box office, all Fred Meyer outlets, or online at ticketmaster.com. Those unable to attend the game can catch all the action live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Sterling Savings Bank Warm-up Show at 6:45 p.m.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2009


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