Dayna Fjord

Americans fall flat big time against Portland

Kennewick, Wa. The Tri-City Americans (32-22-7-1, 72pts.) had to feel pretty confident coming into tonight’s contest with the Portland Winterhawks (38-20-1-3, 80pts.). The Americans were riding a three game win streak with wins against Kamloops, Prince George, and division rival Seattle. They won those games by a combined score of 16-5 and looked to have hit their offensive stride again. Unfortunately, they fell flat against the Winterhawks on Tuesday night by giving up nine goals and being shut out on home ice.

When you play the Winterhawks, you have to expect a game of speed. Everything comes fast. Their transition, their passes, their shots are all fast. Tri-City is a team that thrives off of slowing down the pace and overpowering their opponents. Tonight, that didn’t work out too well early on. The Americans came out of the gate firing, and keeping the play in Portland’s defensive zone for a bit. They had a few early chances, but an early power play opportunity for the Winterhawks changed the pace – fast. On a Tri-City clearing attempt, forward Joachim Blichfeld grabbed the puck just outside his own blue line and carried into the zone with speed. He made a perfect pass to Ryan Hughes who fired a laser right past Tri-City goaltender Patrick Dea for his 13th of the season. Just over a minute later, it was a quick transition play from their own end that ended up being a scoring chance. Portland carried through the neutral zone, again with a lot of speed, getting behind the Tri-City defense. A great set of passes ended up on the tape of defenseman Keoni Texeira’s stick where he fired another laser right past Dea for his ninth of the season. Under four minutes in and Portland had gained the two goal lead – quickly. It would remain that way for over 10 minutes as both teams traded some chances, with very few whistles. At 15:05, things got a little more bleak for the Americans as Portland went up 3-0 on Blichfeld’s 21st of the season. The Americans were able to clamp down and get some quality chances in the Portland zone for the remainder of the period, but unfortunately most shots were blocked or sailed wide. Portland outshot Tri-City 15-11 in the first.

Ryan Hughes (Dayna Fjord)

Any hope for a Tri-City comeback faded quickly early on in the second period. A hooking call to Portland defenseman Brendan De Jong just over a minute in gave Tri-City a golden opportunity to get back in it. Instead, the Americans power play, which has struggled immensely lately, went flat. 16 seconds after that penalty expired, Portland flexed their offensive muscles again. This time it was forward Kieffer Bellows picking up his 33rd of the season. Once again, the speed of the Portland attack kept Tri-City on their heels and unable to get set defensively. Portland’s Hughes picked up his 100th WHL point with an assist on that goal. Once again, things went quiet for awhile, but a huge wave of Winterhawks offense was about to break on the quiet Toyota Center crowd. At 14:04, De Jong was left all alone at the left circle and sniped a shot top corner on Dea. It was De Jong’s 13th of the season, and was also the end of the night for Dea. Unfortunately, Tri-City backup tender Beck Warm didn’t fair much better. At 18:28, Hughes picked up his second of the night and fifth point of the game after the Americans defense once again wasn’t able to pick up the open man. 48 seconds later, the beatdown continued as Bellows picked up his second of the night. Bellows skated right through the Tri-City defense untouched and wristed a shot point blank and in to give Portland the 7-0 lead heading into intermission. The Winterhawks held the 17-15 shot advantage in the period and the damage had definitely been done.

Portland did not hold back and protect their lead in the third. They kept their foot on the gas and really continued to make a statement in Tri-City. They killed off a four minute double-minor that defenseman Dennis Cholowski took as time expired at the end of the second and then got right back to work offensively. At the 4:59 mark, forward Cody Glass picked up his 30th of the season to make it 8-0. At 8:38, Portland forward Reece Newkirk, who had one point in his last eight games, picked up his second point of the night with his sixth goal of the season. It would be the end of the scoring for the night, but a statement had definitely been made. The Americans outshot Portland 11-10 in the final frame, but were unable to solve Winterhawk goaltender Shane Farkas who picked up his second shutout of the season. Portland outshot Tri-City 42-37 on the night.

This game definitely leaves some question marks for the Americans. They were simply outworked all night long. A big issue was the power play. The Americans failed to convert on all seven of their chances on the man-advantage. The once potent Tri-City power play has been non-existent recently connecting just once in their last nineteen chances spanning the last six games. With the playoffs coming up quickly, the team will need to find their stride again quickly as special teams are such a huge part of the postseason. The Americans will need to have a very short memory following this game as they will take on the red hot Spokane Chiefs on Friday night at home, followed up by a rematch with Portland on Saturday. Portland will play Seattle at home on Friday night.