The Tri-City Americans concluded their homestand with a 5-4 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Military Appreciation night. An explosive first period by the Americans, scoring four goals in the first period, was the reason behind Saturday night’s win.
Military Appreciation Night in Tri-City started with a bang. Jordan Gavin cleaned the dirty laundry up from a Drew Freer shot two minutes into the game to create the first-period scoring frenzy for Tri-City.
Seven minutes into the first period, Andrew Fan helped double the American’s lead after faking out Prince Albert Goalie Chase Coward and going backhand on essentially an empty net after Coward took the bait on the fake.
Halfway through the first period, Prince Albert would put a number on the board. Brayden Dube walked in on a breakaway after a poor line change by the Americans and went glove side on Kyle Kelsey. That goal cut the American’s lead in half and made it 2-1.
Thomas Tien would get that goal back for Tri-City and get his first goal as an American with under four minutes left in the first period. Brandon Whynott shot a sharp-angled shot, which Coward saved. However, Tien was nearby, got the rebound, and threaded the puck through a needle short-side to give the Americans a 3-1 lead.
Just a minute later, the Americans put an exclamation mark in the period on the powerplay. Following a Matej Kubiesa Delay of Game Penalty, Lukas Dragicevic heaved a one-time wallop from the point to make it a 4-1 Tri-City lead.
Shots after the electric first period of play were 12-9 in favor of Tri-City. Chase Coward’s night was also done following the first period.
Max Hildebrand would come in net for the Raiders after Chase Coward was pulled from the game following a horrific first period of play, stopping only 8 of 12 shots. This was the right move, as from here on out, the Raiders dominated play.
Krzystof Macias would cut the deficit to two goals two minutes into the second period. Macias got a bit lucky; after finding the puck amid the traffic in the slot, Macias flung a backhanding prayer towards the net, which found its way through Kelsey’s five-hole.
Drew Freer said not so fast, Krzystof. Freer also got a bit of puck luck like Macias did—eight minutes into the second period.
Freer would tap the puck into the zone, where it would trickle off the backboards and toward the side of the net. Freer then took a whack at the puck with three Prince Albert players surrounding it. The puck flicked up by Max Hildebrand’s mask and around it to make it a 5-2 hockey game in favor of Tri-City.
Prince Albert would not go into the intermission silent and gave Tri-City something to think about going into the third. With just four minutes remaining in the second period, Aiden Oiring fired a one-timer missile from the slot, which beat Kyle Kelsey’s pad to the right post. This made it 5-3 going into the intermission.
Shots after an action-packed two periods of play at the Toyota Center were 25-17 in favor of Prince Albert.
Prince Albert’s Justice Christensen made it a one-goal game six minutes into the third period. Christensen fired a rocket of a one-timer, which went low-blocker on Kyle Kelsey, making it a one-goal game with plenty of time left in the third.
However, even with momentum being with Prince Albert, Tri-City had a perfect penalty kill going forward. A controversial five-minute boarding penalty on Thomas Tien was assessed following the hit on Sloan Stanick halfway through the third. Tri-City was able to kill it off and play some great defense for the rest of the game, essentially parking the bus.
Jake Sloan even had a chance at a shorthanded breakaway. However, a Prince Albert defender poked it away at the last second.
The Tri-City Americans move to 10-6-2 on the season after Saturday night’s victory. Tri-City will be back in action Wednesday night in Wenatchee with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 