Americans' win streak hits eight with 4-3 victory over Spokane

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Tri-City Americans

Americans' win streak hits eight with 4-3 victory over Spokane

November 3, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


Kennewick, WA - The Tri-City Americans (9-3-1-0) jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the third period and then hung on for a 4-3 over the Spokane Chiefs (10-7-0-0) Saturday night, running their win streak to eight.

Tri-City got the scoring started 12 minutes the game on a two-on-one rush. Jake Gudelj carried the puck into the zone on left wing before firing a shot past the blocker of Dawson Cowan, picking up his fourth goal of the year. Grady Martin and Austin Zemlak got assists on the goal.

Just a minute and a half later, Jackson Smith swung the puck from the left-wing corner to the front of the net and Gavin Garland redirected the puck past Cowan for his eighth of the season, giving Tri-City a 2-0 lead.

The Americans took that lead into the intermission, outshooting Spokane 19-7 in the opening 20 minutes.

The Chiefs then came out with a strong effort to start the second period registering the first 13 shots on goal of the middle frame. That included a power play goal by Shea Van Olm to cut the Americans lead to one.

After weathering that storm by Spokane, the Americans regained their two-goal lead. Cash Koch flipped the puck down the ice after a turnover by Spokane in the Tri-City zone and Gudelj raced after it, recovering it deep in the Chiefs end.

Gudelj then dropped the puck into the slot and Koch fired a shot over the blocker of Cowan for his fourth of the season, pushing the Americans lead to 3-1.

Tri-City had a four-minute power play late in the period, and nearly took a 4-1 lead, but Cowan made a diving stop on Jackson Smith to rob him of a goal late in the period. Spokane was called for another penalty during that sequence, which eventually led to Chiefs head coach Brad Lauer being ejected from the game.

The Americans took the 3-1 lead into the intermission, but quickly extended it to start the third.

Carter MacAdams skated into the Spokane zone on a two-on-one and worked the puck across to Brandon Whynott who scored his eighth of the season just 23 seconds into the third period to make it 4-1.

Spokane didn't let up however, getting two goals from Van Olm and Brody Gillespie in 1:22 to cut the Americans lead back to one with 13 minutes to play. The Americans called their 30-second timeout following the second goal.

On a Chiefs power play late in the game, Lukas Matecha made his finest save of the season when he stretched across to his left and denied Van Olm of the hat trick with the glove, keeping Tri-City ahead 4-3.

The Chiefs pulled Cowan for the extra attacker late in regulation but weren't able to get any substantial looks at the net the clock hit zero and the Americans won their eighth game in a row.

The eight-game winning streak is now the longest for the Americans since the 2010-11 season when they won 13 consecutive games from December 2, 2010, to January 7, 2011.

The Americans look for a ninth straight victory when they welcome the top team in the WHL to the Toyota Center, the Everett Silvertips (13-2-0-0), who have won their last seven games.

Announced attendance was 4,571.

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