Kennewick, Wa. The Tri-City Americans (14-8-2-0, 30 pts.) were given a hard reminder tonight that hard work is important in hockey. The Saskatoon Blades (10-12-2-1, 23pts.) may not look the best on paper, but they were the deliverers of that message tonight as they beat the Americans 5-2 to kick off their U.S. Division trip.
Strange things can happen on a Tuesday night in the WHL. The first ten minutes of this contest proved that. The Blades were playing in the first game of their bi-annual U.S. trip. They should be tired from the road trip, right? The Americans were playing their fifth straight on home ice, where they have won 8-of-10. The first ten minutes proved those two facts to be moot point in this match. The Americans were outshot 10-1 and found themselves in a 2-0 hole thanks to goals by Blades’ forwards Cameron Hebig and Josh Paterson just 1:12 apart. Saskatoon hasn’t had a lot of success so far this season, but they were proving they came to play. Momentum is a big part of the game and the Blades had it, but that would change. The Americans power play has been pretty good at home this year, where they were ranked 7th in the league coming into tonight’s game. Tri-City found themselves on a 5-on-3 opportunity just past eleven minutes in to the opening frame. Sixteen seconds after going on the 2-man advantage, forward Nolan Yaremko fired a one-timer off a great feed from Morgan Geekie over the shoulder of Saskatoon goaltender Nolan Maier for his seventh goal of the season. The game would remain 2-1 going into intermission with Saskatoon outshooting the Americans 12-8 in the period.
It didn’t take long for the Blades to steal that momentum back in the second. Just twenty-six seconds to be exact. Saskatoon right-winger Caleb Fantillo picked up his 7th of the season on a shot that somehow found its way past a screened Patrick Dea. It seemed that hole was going to get even bigger after Saskatoon found themselves on a nearly minute long 5-on-3 advantage. Tri-City, however, had an incredible kill on both of those penalties to keep the Blades lead at two. Both teams traded power play opportunities a couple of times over a good chunk of the period, but neither was able to further their cause. That was until Tri-City forward Isaac Johnson came alive late in the frame. Johnson was able to cause a lot of disruption to a Blades attempt to clear their own zone. That nagging turned into a takeaway and that takeaway turned into a pass just in front of the Saskatoon crease to Americans’ rookie Paycen Bjorklund. Bjorklund wasted no time, and buried the pack over a sprawling Maier for his first ever WHL goal. The Blades ended up outshooting Tri-City 19-10 in the period, but they were unable to extend their lead beyond one.
The third period was the icing on the cake for the Blades. They outworked the Americans in every way possible and were rewarded for that work. Center Bradley Goethals scored his 6th of the season as Gage Ramsey’s initial shot was blocked up into the air were Goethals was able to bat it in behind Dea. Braylon Shymr added his 13th of the season on an empty-netter with seventeen seconds left to play. The Blades penalty-kill is ranked near the bottom of the league, but they were able to kill off 5-of-6 Tri-City opportunities. The Americans killed off 5-of-6 Saskatoon penalties as well. Tri-City was outshot 43-28. The Americans will remain at home on Friday to host the Seattle Thunderbirds. Saskatoon will travel to Spokane on Wednesday for a tilt with the Chiefs.
The Americans again played without Michael Rasmussen and Juuso Välimäki who are both recovering from injury. Dylan Coghlan was out as well serving the second of his 2-game suspension. Isaac Johnson returned to the lineup from injury and was one of the bright spots for the Americans, as he played with a lot of energy. Tri-City head coach Mike Williamson remains tied for 5th all-time in WHL wins (548). He’ll have to wait until at least Friday to take over sole-possession of that spot.
