Kennewick, Wa. Two of the heavyweights in the Western Conference met in Kennewick tonight as the Tri-City Americans (27-16-7-0, 61 pts.) played host to the Portland Winterhawks (30-18-1-3, 64 pts.). Both teams were sporting a mostly full and healthy roster that featured 7 NHL first round draft picks. It would be a chess match to see who could exploit the others weaknesses more efficiently. In the end, the Americans were able to take advantage of the few Portland mistakes and come away with the 6-3 victory.
The flow of the game was fast and clean for over five minutes to open this game. The first whistle did not come until the first goal was scored at the 5:19 mark. The Americans opened the scoring on the strength of forward Jordan Topping’s 30th goal of the year. Forward Michael Rasmussen collected a Cole Kehler rebound and fired a pass to a streaking Topping who wristed in a shot behind Kehler. The goal was Topping’s fourth in the last two games and it marks the second time in the last three seasons that the twenty-year-old has reached the thirty goal mark. Despite that early goal, the Winterhawks brought a very fast paced attack for the rest of the period. Tri-City goaltender Patrick Dea was put to the test heavily by the potent Winterhawks offensive unit. Shortly after their first power play opportunity had expired, Portland got on the board. Center Reece Newkirk picked up his third of the season at the 16:06 mark. Dea stopped an initial shot by Matthew Quigley, but couldn’t handle the rebound, which trickled out to Newkirk who fired it past a committed Dea. The first would come to a close with both teams tied at one. Portland held the shot advantage 20-6.
Despite being outshot in the first, Tri-City really was limiting Portland’s chances. They were clearing the traffic in front of Dea, who was doing a really good job controlling and limiting the second chance opportunities. Portland did, however, manage to capitalize on its third power play after Tri-City forward Brett Clayton was called for slashing. Portland forward Skyler McKenzie was the recipient of a Cody Glass pass from the corner, right to the top of the crease where he was able to redirect the puck five-hole on Dea for his 39th goal of the season. Kieffer Bellows also collected an assist on the play. The 2-1 lead would hold for about four-and-a-half minutes. Kehler left his net to play the puck. He laid the puck behind the net and skated away, expecting one of his two defensemen in the area to make a play. They didn’t. Americans forward Morgan Geekie did. He collected the puck and fed it out front to rookie Sasha Mutala who beat Kehler before he could reset. It was Mutala’s eighth of the year. With just over a minute left in the period, the Americans would retake the lead. Forward Nolan Yaremko found Isaac Johnson crashing the net and fed it right to Johnson’s stick who then beat Kehler. The Americans were being badly outshot, 33-14 through two periods, but found themselves with a 3-2 lead headed to the second intermission.
Portland would need a strong showing to finally get things rolling again in their favor in the third. Dea was playing lights out and the Winterhawks needed some quality chances to get momentum back on their side. At 9:17 of the final frame, that chance came when a Tri-City turnover was picked up right in front of the Americans’ net by Portland’s Newkirk. Before Dea could set, Newkirk wristed a shot past Dea for his second of the game. He had just two goals all year before tonight’s contest. Tri-City showed no sign of panic after the tying goal by Portland, however, and stuck to their game. They continued to be patient with the puck and defensively sound against a fast Portland team. The Americans patience paid off when they regained the lead with just under four-and-a-half minutes to play. Forward Parker AuCoin carried the puck into the corner to Kehler’s right side and found Geekie skating right along in the middle. Geekie collected the pass and blasted a shot top shelf. It was Geekie’s 19th of the season and second point of the night. Just over a minute later, the Americans would extend the lead to two, when Riley Sawchuk picked up a loose puck at the bottom of the circles, and skated in to just outside Kehler’s crease and ripped a shot five-hole on the Portland net minder. It was Sawchuck’s first of two goals on the night as he would add an empty-netter with forty-seconds left to play. Portland won the shots-on-goal battle 42-29 for the evening, but Dea won first star honors by stopping 39 of those Winterhawk shots. Portland was able to cool down the hot Americans power play by killing all six Tri-City opportunities. The Winterhawks were 1-for-4 on the man-advantage. Both teams will play each other again on Saturday on the back end of a home-and-home.
Tri-City has now won four straight, five of their last seven, and have gained points in all seven of those games. The Americans offense has come alive as they are getting scoring from every line. They have scored twenty-five goals in their last five games. Topping has fourteen points (9g, 5a) in his last ten games. Mutala has points in two straight (1g, 1a). Geekie is on a 4-game point streak (3g, 5a). Sawchuck has points in three of his last four (5g, 0a). Johnson is on a 6-game point streak (4g, 6a). Rasmussen has seven points (3g, 4a) in four games since returning from injury. They now sit three points behind Portland for second in the U.S. Division with two games in hand on the Winterhawks. They trail division leading Everett by eight points with three games in hand on the Silvertips.
