Langley, B.C. The Tri-City Americans (3-3-0-0) finally got into the win column on the road after starting the season 0-3 as the visiting team. After dropping to the Vancouver Giants (2-3-0-0) the night before, Tri-City was able to tighten up defensively for the second night of the back-to-back games and earn the 4-3 win.
So far this season, the Americans have shown the ability to create offensive chances. Their passing is good, they set up quickly in the opponents defensive end, and they are able to keep sustained pressure once they get into the zone. Unfortunately, the ability to put the puck into the net on a regular basis, still hasn’t caught up with those other qualities. In a first period that saw Tri-City sorely outshoot the Giants 15-4, that storyline continued. Good chances, but no goals. Much of that was because of Vancouver goalie Todd Scott. Scott made some key saves on his way to earning the second star of the night.
If the first period story was Tri-City controlling the play, then the first 3/4 of the second period completely belonged to Vancouver. The Americans were unable to find any real offensive rhythm as they spent a good portion of the middle of the frame killing back-to-back penalties. The Giants had already come out buzzing early in the period, and that offensive pressure paid off just after their second power play opportunity expired, as Milos Roman broke the scoreless tie at 11:49. In a game of major ebbs and flows for both teams, the tide could turn at any moment. It did at 17:42. A turnover in front of the Vancouver net found it’s way onto Parker Aucoin’s stick who buried it in an upper corner over Scott. It was a 1-1 tie skating into the second intermission.
For the first two periods of this game, Tri-City never had a lead. It didn’t take them long to change that once the third frame started. Americans forward Michael Rasmussen cleared the puck out of the Tri-City zone directly onto the stick of Jordan Topping, who skated into the Vancouver zone and buried a slap shot over the right shoulder of goalie Todd Scott. It was Topping’s third of the season and gave Tri-City the 2-1 lead. The ebbs and flows continued, but started to come much more quickly at this point. At 6:31, Vancouver winger Cyle McNabb netted his first WHL goal after a flurry in front of the Tri-City net found Americans’ goalie Patrick Dea on his back and the net wide open. Just fifty seconds later, Tri-City would again take the lead on their fourth power play opportunity. Americans defenseman Juuso Välimäki made a great play to keep the puck in the Americans zone, then made a great pass to Morgan Geekie, who threw it on net where Rasmussen redirected the shot into the Giants’ net. Tri-City held the 3-2 lead but the game was far from over. With just 1:33 left to play, Rasmussen took an interference penalty and with Scott pulled for Vancouver, the Giants had a two-man advantage. The Giants pressured early on that power play, but Maxwell James was able to clear the puck into the empty Vancouver net for his third of the season, and first shorthanded. The Giants would keep it interesting by scoring on that same power play, as Brendan Semchuk picked up his first of the season with thirty-six seconds left to play. That was as close as Vancouver would get, though, as Tri-City would hold on for the 4-3 victory.
The Americans outshot the Giants 37-34. The Tri-City power play went 1-for-4 while Vancouver finished the night with one power play goal on six opportunities. Vancouver will hit the road for a seven-game road trip starting Tuesday in Seattle. Tri-City’s five-game road trip continues with back-to-back games in Victoria starting on Tuesday.
