Kennewick, Wa. For the second time in five nights, the Tri-City Americans (32-23-8-1, 73 pts.) and Portland Winterhawks (39-20-1-4, 83 pts.) met in Kennewick for a key U.S. Division matchup. Many picked both of these teams to be at the top of the division come playoff time, but both are currently teams heading in different directions. Portland won 9-0 on Tuesday night and the Americans would have loved some retribution for the embarrassing outing. Unfortunately for Tri-City, Portland had other plans, and once again skated away with the victory in the eastern Washington desert.
The first period of this tilt felt a little too familiar, again. Slow starts. There isn’t enough that can be said about how those two words are haunting Tri-City right now. For the third straight game, Tri-City found itself in a relatively quick two-goal deficit. At the 8:55 mark, just after their first power play opportunity had expired, Portland forward Kieffer Bellows picked up his 35th of the season. Bellows got the deflection off of a Dennis Cholowski pass that went high over Tri-City goaltender Beck Warm’s right shoulder. Just under four minutes later, forward Cody Glass picked up his 32nd of the season. An unforced turnover by the Americans deep in their own zone ended up on the stick of Portland forward Skyler McKenzie. McKenize found Glass uncovered in front of the Tri-City net, where he wristed a shot five-hole on Warm. The 2-0 lead would hold up heading into intermission. The Americans power play continued to struggle going 0-for-2 in the opening frame. Portland held the shot advantage 11-8.
Tri-City was able to muster up a little offensive pressure in the second recording fifteen shots that got through to Portland netminder Shane Farkas. Unfortunately, Portland mustered up even more offensive pressure. The Winterhawks registered twenty-one shots on goal in the middle frame, with two of them finding twine. Just 1:17 in to the period, Glass picked up his second of the night after picking up the rebound from a Bellows shot. Glass’s 33rd of the season is a career high in a season for the Vegas Golden Knights first ever draft pick. Forward Lane Gilliss gave Portland the 4-0 lead at 8:33 with his 5th of the season. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju threw the puck at net with what looked like a harmless shot, but it deflected off of Gilliss’s stick and in. Warm was looking visibly uncomfortable in net for most of the second, looking like he might have sustained an injury at some point. A few minutes after surrendering the fourth goal, he was in fact replaced with Patrick Dea during a routine play stoppage. Dea stopped all seven shots he faced in the period to keep Tri-City in it. The Americans were unable to convert their lone power play opportunity in the middle frame.
Tuesday after two periods Portland held a 7-0 lead. Tonight it was a semi-manageable 4-0, but it was still an uphill battle all the way for the Americans. It was Portland’s simple style that kept the Americans to the outside, got sticks and bodies in every lane, and kept the Americans chances to a minimum, that doomed Tri-City and their chances at a comeback. Gilliss, who had four total goals coming into tonight and who hadn’t scored in his last six games, added his second of the night to put the final nail in the coffin. A great outlet pass by forward Jake Gricius found Gilliss behind the Tri-City defense, where he skated in all alone and sent a backhand shot past Dea. The 5-0 score would hold up to the end, and Portland would skate away with their second shutout in Tri-City over the past five days. Farkas was in net for both of them and is now 5-0 overall this year vs Tri-City. He has stopped 167 of 172 shots in those five games for a save percentage of 0.971.
The Americans power play failed to convert for the third straight game, going 0-for-3 on the night. They are now 1-for-24 over their past eight games. Final shots on goal were 43-30 in favor of Portland.
Tri-City will travel to Seattle on Tuesday for a tilt with the Thunderbirds. The Americans currently hold a three point lead over Seattle for fourth in the U.S. Division and also the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. With Kamloops losing tonight, the Americans need just one point over their final eight games to secure a playoff spot for the fourteenth time over the past fifteen seasons. Making it in to the postseason is top priority, but making it in on a roll would go a long way to helping Tri-City get out of the first round for the first time since 2012.
