The Tri-City Americans steamrolled the Wenatchee Wild Saturday night 9-3. Tri-City scored nine goals for the first time at home since November 4th, 2012. Saturday night was the Americans’ Teddy Bear toss night, and they set a record of 5,118 bears.
Lukas Dragicevic opened the scoring and said, Let’s bring on the bears five minutes into the contest. Dragicevic gathered the puck in the slot and fired a wrist shot high and over the glove of Wenatchee Wild goaltender Daniel Hauser.
Three minutes later, at the 8:14 mark, Jordan Gavin got his first goal of the night. Parker Bell walked in on a two-on-one and threw it over to Jordan Gavin, who fired a one-timer from close range to make it 2-0 Tri-City.
Parker Bell would add one more goal in the period at 14:11. On the powerplay, Dragicevic fired a one-timer, which led to a mad scramble out net-front. Parker Bell gathered the puck and made it 3-0 Tri-City.
Shots after one period of play were 18-12 in favor of Tri-City.
Kenta Isogai would give the Wenatchee faithful in attendance some hope two minutes into the second period. Matthew Savoie fired a shot initially saved by the pad of American goaltender Kyle Kelsey. However, Isogai found the rebound and smacked it in making it a 3-1 game.
Brandon Whynott would get that goal back for Tri-City two minutes later for his first goal of the contest. Whynott grabbed the rebound off his own shot and took care of business, making it 4-1 Tri-City.
Jordan Gavin got his second goal of the night from the left faceoff dot. Gavin fired a tight-angle shot that found its way by the mask of Daniel Hauser, which made it 5-1 Tri-City. Daniel Hauser of the Wenatchee Wild was pulled following this goal, and Wild backup goaltender Brendan Gee was put in.
Parker Bell made it 6-1 Tri-City after firing a sharp-angled shot and gathering his own rebound. Bell then skated out net front and spun around Brendan Gee to put it home.
Maximillian Curran capped off a three-point night halfway through the second period. Curran walked in on a partial breakaway, making it 7-1 Tri-City.
Kenta Isogai would get his second goal of the night and fifteenth goal of the season. Isogai received a pass from Briley Wood on the powerplay. Isogai fired away a one-time wallop from the right faceoff circle and went five-hole on American goalie Kyle Kelsey.
Brandon Whynott would say why not and get his second goal of the night to make it 8-2 Tri-City. Whynott, from a nearly impossible angle at the side of the net, was able to roof it over Wild goaltender Brendan Gee and cap off the second period in style.
Shots after two periods of play 33-26 in favor of Tri-City.
Wenatchee would start the period off strong yet again. On the powerplay, Jonas Woo would get his fourth goal of the season. Woo would go bar down and give Wenatchee one last hoorah.
With just a few minutes remaining in the game, Andrew Fan would get his fourth goal of the season. Fan out at the front of the net got the rebound of a shot from the point and flicked it over Brendan Gee to make it 9-3.
With their win, Tri-City moved to 15-12-2 on the season. Tri-City will look to carry their recent success into Victoria next weekend for a two-game tilt before the Christmas break.
Northwest Sports Desk 