WHL Tri-City Americans

Four-Goal Third Gives Tri-City Game 1 Win Over Bruins

Published on March 20, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City head coach Jim Hiller stressed the need to 'figure out' Chilliwack goaltender Lucas Gore before the start of their first round playoff series. It took an interesting play to finally chink Gore's armor but, once cracked, the Americans took full advantage.

After being shutout over the first 40 minutes of play, the Tri-City Americans (1-0-0, 2 pts) notched four goals in a four-minute span early in the third period, eventually outlasting the visiting Chilliwack Bruins (0-1-0, 0 pts) 4-2 in front of 3,383 fans at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. With the win, Tri-City snapped their two-game losing skid to the Bruins while taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Meanwhile, the Bruins dropped their first playoff game since missing out on the 2009 post-season and have dropped three straight games including the regular season. The two will now face-off in Game 2 of their first-round series tomorrow, Saturday, March 20 in Kennewick. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Toyota Center.

It was hit or be hit throughout Friday's contest, which featured two teams with plenty to prove and statements to send. However, despite the hard hitting and physical nature, the contest also saw plenty of shots. The two squads combined for 26 shots on goal in the first period, but only one found the back of the net.

Just past the midway point of the first period and only 16 seconds into their first power play, defenseman Brandon Manning fired a shot in on Tri-City goaltender Drew Owsley. Owsley was unable to control the rebound, which ended up on the stick of Dylen McKinley. McKinley then buried the shot to put Chilliwack up 1-0. Then, for the next 30 minutes, it was the Lucas Gore show, who stopped all 26 shots faced after two periods of play.

Finally, at the 3:41 mark of the third period and after Brooks Macek's rebound found him in the near circle, Kruise Reddick patiently waited for Gore to over commit, then lifted a shot over the sprawling netminder and tied the game at 1 apiece. It was the start of a four-minute offensive onslaught by Tri-City, who turned the game around after being snubbed over the previous two periods.

The back-breaker for Chilliwack, however, came just 37 seconds later after a face-off in the Bruins' zone. Brendan Shinnimin won the draw and sent the puck up to Brock Sutherland. As they cycled, Sutherland passed it off to Messier, who then found Lazo near the top of the circle. Lazo fired a shot on Gore, which disappeared inside the netminder's pads. However, as Gore moved to re-position himself, the puck popped out of the back of his leg pads and dribbled across the goal line.

Only 49 seconds after Lazo's goal, Neal Prokop redirected a Mason Wilgosh shot past Gore to make it 3-1. Then, at the 7:44 mark of the period, Sergei Drozd buried a Macek rebound, to put Tri-City on top by three.

Back on the power play with just over six minutes remaining, the Bruins' Ryan Howse was able to slip a shot past Owsley to pull the Bruins to within two. But, despite pulling Gore with two and a half minutes remaining, Owsley and the Americans' defense withstood the final Chilliwack surge and secured the victory.

Owsley, who was making his post-season debut and playing in his first game since suffering a concussion on Feb. 27 in Spokane, stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced to pick up the win. Meanwhile, Gore finished with 33 saves on 37 shots in the loss. The Tri-City power play went 0-for-3 on the night, while the Bruins were 2-for-2 on the man-advantage.

Applebee's 3 Stars:

1, Kruise Reddick, Tri-City

2, Drew Owsley, Tri-City

3, Sergei Drozd, Tri-City

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2010


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