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Tri-City Americans

Americans Look for Weekend Sweep as They Take on Seattle Thunderbirds

April 11, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


Kennewick, WA - The Americans took down the US Division leading Everett Silvertips last night in a 6-2 victory. They will look to carry that momentum into today's game against the Seattle Thunderbirds and sweep the weekend.

Tri-City's Last Game:

Last night the Americans defeated Everett 6-2 handing the top-ranked Silvertips their second loss of the season. It was the first time the Americans won a game against the Silvertips since September 20, 2019.

The Americans proved ready for the tough matchup as they opened scoring with a shorthanded goal from Edge Lambert 4:11 into the game. Later in the period Jake Sloan tapped in a shot from Ian Ferguson to put the Americans up by two.

Rhett Melnyk extended the Ams lead to 3-0 early second period with his first ever WHL goal. Sloan made a pass from behind the goal line to Melnyk who scored short-side on Silvertips goaltender Braden Holt.

2004-born Melnyk was Tri-City's top selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.

Holt started in net last night for the Silvertips and was relived by Dustin Wolf after the Americans third goal on eight shots.

The energy of the game shifted as Everett scored two power play goals in the middle of the second period to cut the Americans lead to one. Tri-City regained control and scored once more in the second period with a goal from Booker Daniel.

Scoring resumed in the third period as Sam Huo netted his second shorthanded goal of the season, and the Americans second shorthanded goal of the night, off an unassisted breakaway. Connor Bouchard added an empty net goal to seal a 6-2 victory for Tri-City.

Talyn Boyko played the full game in net for the Americans. He stopped 37 of 39 shots faced from the Silvertips.

Sloan, a 16-year-old center, recorded his first ever multi-point game with one goal and two assists.

Tonight's Match-Up:

TC (5-5-0-0) | SEA (5-5-0-0)

Tri-City and Seattle have already met once this season, on April 6th, when the Americans took a 5-2 home victory over the Thunderbirds.

The two teams are currently tied in the standings with 10 points. Whoever wins tonight's game will pass the Portland Winterhawks and take the second place spot in the US Division.

Head-to-head Sam Huo and Connor Bouchard both have one goal and one assist against the Thunderbirds. For Seattle, Jordan Gustafson and Kelti Jeri-Leon each have one goal and one assist against the Americans.

Tri-City has been exceptionally strong at the Toyota Center this season with wins in five of six home games.

Power Play: TC 10% | SEA 20%

Penalty Kill: TC 74.51% | SEA 73.53%

Previous Meetings

GAME 1: VS SEA 04/06/21 (5-2 TC)

Broadcast Info

Television: SWX, presented by Toyota of Tri-Cities - More Details

Webcast: WHL Live - Sign Up & Watch Here

Radio: NewsTalk 870 KFLD / 98.7 FM - Listen Online

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2021


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