WHL Tri-City Americans

Owsley Posts Another Shutout In 6-0 Victory Over 'Hawks

Published on December 20, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


PORTLAND, OR - Behind two great performances from two of their young guns, the Tri-City Americans cruised into the Winter Break with their best record in franchise history.

Drew Owsley stopped all 46 shots he faced, Jordan Messier collected his first WHL hat trick and the Tri-City Americans (26-9-0-0, 52 pts) tripped up the Portland Winterhawks (22-15-0-1, 45 pts) 6-0 in front of 7,152 fans at the Rose Garden. With their fourth consecutive win, the Americans surpassed the 2007-08 squad that was 25-7-0-1 (51 pts) at the break. Meanwhile, Portland has now lost five straight vs. Tri-City this season and seven straight dating back to last season.

Last season, coincidentally, Owsley picked up his first career shutout on the last day of the first half, a 3-0 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers on December 14. Owsley's 46 saves was a new career-best and he was one shot shy of his career-high. And, with back-to-back shutouts, Owsley became the sixth Tri-City goaltender to post consecutive shutouts in a season, joining Lance Leslie (92-93), David Trofimenkoff (94-95), Jeff Blair (98-99), Carey Price (04-05, 05-06) and Chet Pickard (08-09).

Messier, who has quietly put together a solid month of December, got the scoring started. At the 11:38 mark of the first period, Kruise Reddick sent a cross-ice pass to Messier, who swept a backhander past 'Hawks goaltender, Mac Carruth. Just 5:21 later and on the power play, Messier connected again, this time sending a wrist shot high over the glove of Carruth for the 2-0 lead.

Patrick Holland made his mark in the second period, tallying twice in a 10 minute span. The first came at the midway point of the period when, from out of the corner, Holland's centering pass hit Carruth in the leg and snuck inside the far post. Then, with just 21 seconds remaining in the period, Eric Doyle's clearing pass hit Holland in the skate, which kept the puck in the Portland zone. Holland then gathered the puck, stepped into the high slot and beat Carruth top shelf to put Tri-City up by four. For Holland, it was his second career multi-goal game and second in his last three games.

With 7:11 remaining in regulation, Messier completed his hat trick by beating Carruth between his pads. Then, on the power play with less than three minutes remaining, Brett Plouffe's shot from the mid-point capped the scoring in the contest.

Carruth, who has made three of his five WHL starts against Tri-City, stopped 29 shots in the loss. Meanwhile, Owsley has won his last four starts and is 7-1 in the month of December. Tri-City finished the night 2-for-5 on the power play and was a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The Americans will hit the ice a week from Sunday, as they return from the break to face-off against the Everett Silvertips on Sunday, December 27. Game time is 5:05 p.m. at Comcast Arena. Tri-City leads the eight-game series 2 to 1 with both victories coming via shutouts. The Americans will put their four-game winning streak on the line vs. an Everett team which enters the break having lost seven of their last 10. Fans can catch all the action live, via WHL WebTV, at the Americans' home away from home, Kimo's Sports Café in Richland. 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, Drew Owsley, Tri-City

2, Jordan Messier, Tri-City

3, Patrick Holland, Tri-City

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2009


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