(Spokane, Washington) - A four-goal third period, coming on the heels of an huge defensive stand on an extended 2-man shorthanded situation late in the second, propelled the Tri-City Americans to a 5-3 win over the Spokane Chiefs Saturday night, before 7,917 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan, recently returned by the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, opened the scoring late in the first, off assists from Ethan McIndoe and Eli Zummack, putting the Chiefs on top 1-0 at the 14:56 mark. Then, with 61 seconds left in the period, Spokane doubled their lead on a Luke Toporowki goal, assisted by Ty Smith and goaltender Bailey Brkin. The marker, at 18:59, put the Chiefs up 2-0 after one.
In the second, special teams played an important part in building momentum for the Americans. With McIndoe in the box with a double-minor for board, Parker AuCoin scored on the first-half of the man advantage, assisted by Nolan Yaremko and Isaac Johnson at 1:46, cutting the Spokane lead to 2-1. Then, late in the middle frame, penalties 2 seconds apart to Riley Bruce and Mitchell Brown, put Tri-City down down men. But solid play on the back end, plus strong goaltending, killed the disadvantage, keeping the Chiefs lead at 2-1 through 40 minutes.
The Americans used that late penalty kill to springboard into control in the third. Brett Clayton's goal, his second of the year, assisted by Sasha Mutala and Riley Sawchuk, brought the visitors even at 2-2, 4:40 into the final frame. Anderson-Dolan would give Spokane the lead back at 3-2 with a power play goal at 7:39, assisted by McIndoe and Zummack. However, the goal failed to stem the Tri-City comeback. Mutala's third of the year, coming on the power play at 9:59, with the lone assist going to Tom Cadieux, brought the visitors even again at 3-3. Johnson's 6th goal of the year, with Roman Kalinichenko and Yaremko helping out at 15:32, proved to be the game-winner, putting the Americans back on top, 4-3. Yaremko's team-leading 10th of the season, into an empty net at 19:52, with the assist going to Dom Schmiemann sealed the deal and Tri-City would skate away with the 5-3 victory.
Beck Warm, manning the nets for the 12th time in 13 games this season, made 30 saves for the Americans. Bailey Brkin, after entering the game with a sub 2 goals against average, would have four shots elude him, while making 27 saves for the Chiefs. Tri-City, off to a bit of a slow start of special teams in the early part of the campaign, received a stellar effort from their special teams Saturday night, going 2-for-4 on the power play and 3-of-4 on the penalty kill.
The Americans, winners of five straight, with the past four coming on the road, improve to 9-4-0-0 on the season, Spokane slips to 7-4-1-2. The win moves the Ams into second place in the U.S. Division, 2 points behind first place Everett and one point ahead of third place Spokane. Tri-City is off until Friday, November 2nd, when the travel to Everett to play the Silvertips. Everett has won the only meeting between the two teams so far this season, taking a 3-2 decision in Kennewick on September 29th. The Chiefs return to the ice on Tuesday, October 30th, hosting the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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