WHL Tri-City Americans

Johnson, Chiefs Outlast Americans 2-1

January 10, 2010 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


SPOKANE, WA - On a night where he was honored for his efforts in Team USA's gold-medal performance at the recent U20 World Junior Championships, Tyler Johnson used that same spark to end the Spokane Chiefs' woes at Veterans Memorial Arena.

Johnson scored once and assisted on another to lead the Spokane Chiefs (24-15-3-0, 51 pts) past the rival Tri-City Americans (30-11-0-1, 61 pts) 2-1 in front of a sold out crowd of 10,522. With the win, the Chiefs snapped their six-game home losing streak and evened the 12-game regular season series with Tri-City at 3. Meanwhile, with the loss, the Americans dropped back-to-back road games for just the second time this season. The two teams will meet again, two weeks from tonight, in Kennewick.

In what has become customary between the two rivals, Spokane and Tri-City battled hard from the drop of the puck. However, despite an 18 to 12 shot advantage in the period, the Americans could get nothing past James Reid.

Then, only 3:13 into the second period, Johnson got the Chiefs on the board. After Tri-City failed to clear the puck from their zone three times, Stefan Ulmer kept the puck in and found Johnson parked in front of the net. Once he got Drew Owsley to commit to the ice, Johnson lifted a backhander over Owsley, netting his 19th goal of the season.

The Spokane lead held until the game neared the midway point of the third period. With 8:53 gone and just seconds after Reid had robbed Tyler Schmidt of goal, Jordan Messier was able to get Reid out of the net, then buried a forehand shot, knotting the game at 1.

However, with 6:45 remaining in regulation, Johnson set-up Jared Spurgeon in the slot, who beat Owsley on the glove side, giving the Chiefs the 2-1 lead. Tri-City got their chances late in the game and, with just over a minute remaining in regulation, pulled Owsley for the extra attacker. But, unlike their comeback win on Friday, Tri-City failed to tie the game and Spokane held on for the victory.

The Americans will now head back to Kennewick and wrap up their tripleheader weekend against the B.C. Division's Chilliwack Bruins. Game time is 5:05 p.m. at Toyota Center. It is the second meeting this season between Tri-City coach Jim Hiller and his former club. The Bruins took the season's first meeting, a 5-2 win on Oct. 28 in Chilliwack. The loss marked just the second time since Chilliwack's inception in 2006 that the Bruins downed the Americans, who hold a 12-2 all-time record vs. their Western Conference counterparts. Both teams have won seven of their last 10 games. Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets including all Fred Meyer outlets, the Toyota Center box office, or online at ticketmaster.com. The game will also be broadcast live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Sterling Savings Bank Warm-up Show at 4:45 p.m.

Applebee's 3 Stars:

1, Tyler Johnson, Spokane

2, James Reid, Spokane

3, Drew Owsley, Tri-City

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2010


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