The Tri-City Americans dropped their final home game of the season Saturday evening in front of a soldout crowd at the Toyota Center by a score of 6-3 to the Spokane Chiefs. The game saw the team honor Americans’ General Manager Bob Tory with a replica bobblehead giveaway as it was his 2000th game as a WHL GM. This would be the last time Alex Serraglio, Parker Bell and Ethan Peters would play in front of a home crowd in the WHL.
Mathis Preston of Spokane, the third overall pick in the 2023 WHL Draft, initiated scoring halfway through the first period.
Chase Bertholet, at the right circle not long after receiving the puck, fired a hard wrister that bounced off the pad of Tri-City goalkeeper Kyle Kelsey, who was also making his last start in Tri-City, and right to Preston. Preston then banged home the puck from the slot into an open net practically.
Spokane doubled their lead after playing a bit of tic-tac-toe just four minutes following the Preston goal.
Conner Roulette of Spokane beat Alex Serraglio to the puck along the boards. Roulette then tapped the puck behind him towards the right circle. Chiefs forward Shea Van Olm, who was bursting into the zone late, got to the puck and instantly flipped it to Berkly Catton in the slot. Catton wasted no time and fired a wrister by the out-of-position Kyle Kelsey to make it 2-0 Spokane.
Tri-City cut the lead in half at 16:18 in the first period on the power play.
Parker Bell surveyed his options at the point before cutting towards the left circle. Bell then noticed an opening and snapped a quick pass to the red-hot Cruz Pavao waiting on the backdoor. Pavao handled the pass well and dumped the puck over Dawson Cowan’s pad to get Tri-City on the board.
The Chiefs wasted no time restoring their two goals and snuck a goal in with just over a minute left in the first period.
Mathis Preston attained his second goal of the evening. Ben Bonni, skating from the left boards, fired a cross-crease pass to Mathis Preston, who was cutting in. Preston quickly tipped the pass, and the puck went five-hole on Kelsey, making it 3-1 Spokane.
After twenty minutes, Spokane led 3-1 and were ahead in shots 9-8.
Spokane shot out of a cannon and scored just a minute into the second period. Shea Van Olm retrieved a puck behind the net and flipped it instantly off to Conner Roulette, who was waiting closely behind. Roulette then fired a sharp-angled shot that was scrapped by Kelsey’s pad and in.
The Americans would receive a lifeline from Nick Anisimovic halfway through the second period. Fresh out of the box, Anisimovic received a stretch-ice pass from Jackson Smith and skated in on a breakaway. Anisimovic flipped to his backhand and stayed patient, dragging the puck around Michaluk and flipping it over the pad and in to cut the Chiefs’ lead down to two.
After two periods, Spokane led 4-2 in the game and led in shots 23-21.
Five minutes into the third period, Seattle Kraken draft pick Lukas Dragicevic would take in a drop-pass from Jake Sloan on the power play and go to work. Dragicevic quickly dangled by Shea Van Olm and streaked in towards the net. Dragicevic then snuck the puck five-hole on Michaluk to make it a one-goal game.
Excitement was short-lived for Tri-City. Three minutes after the Dragicevic goal, Shea Van Olm snagged an insurance goal, putting the Chiefs up by two again.
Layton Feist, at the point, hurled a backdoor feed to Shea Van Olm at the right circle. Van Olm hammered away a one-time blast that went five-hole on Kelsey, and just like that, it was 5-3 Spokane.
Top 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Berkly Catton of Spokane grabbed his second goal of the game on the powerplay at 12:14, mirroring the Shea Van Olm goal. This time, Brayden Crampton, hovering at the point, quickly zipped a pass to Catton waiting along the right circle. Catton smacked a one-timer of his own that beat Kelsey to the far post.
With their loss, Tri-City fall to 23-41-2-1 on the year. The Americans were set to play one final regular season game on Sunday in Everett against the Silvertips.
Northwest Sports Desk 