Kennewich, WA.-- With 3,802 fans at the Toyota Center roaring their approval, the Tri-City Americans rebounded from Friday's disappointment home loss to Kamloops, overcoming yet another two-goal deficit, to defeat the Calgary Hitmen in a shootout 3-2 Saturday night.
The two teams came out fast, but both defenses were strong, allowing just 17 shots on goal between the two teams total. The only one to cross the goal line came off the stick of Calgary's Riley Stotts, assisted by Cael Zimmerman and Josh Prokop at 13:02, giving the Hitmen a 1-0 advantage after the opening 20 minutes.
Calgary would double the lead in the middle stanza, as former American Carson Focht, dealt away in the deal for Jake Bean last season, scored on the power play off an assist from Egor Zamula at 4:12, which would put the visitors up 2-0 through 40 minutes.
The old saying, when in doubt, throw it on goal proved true in the third, as Calgary native Blake Stevenson directed the puck home for his 4th of the season. The unassisted goal, coming at 8:59 of the third, sliced the deficit in half, at 2-1. Then, as the clock ticked away late in regulation and the goaltender barely making it to the bench for the extra attacker, Tri-City's Sasha Mutala brought the raucous crowd to it's feet by firing home his fifth goal of the season, off a strike from Kyle Olson. Isaac Johnson also assisted at 18:36, tying the game 2-2 and send the Ams to extra time for the fifth time on the season.
Both teams had chances in the overtime, in which Tri-City held a 4-2 shots advantage, but neither could score and the contest would head to a deciding shootout, to determine which team would get the extra standings point.
The Americans would shoot first, with Captain Nolan Yaremko getting the nod, but being denied. Stepping up for the Hitmen in round one was Jake Kryski, but he too was unable to score. In round two, Tri-City would get the upper hand with a goal from Olson, Calgary's Stotts was stopped in round two and up stepped Johnson for the Americans, with a chance to win it. The 19 year old from Andover, Minnesota would make no mistake, burying his attempt and sending the crowd home happy with a 3-2 Tri-City win.
The Hitmen outshot the Americans on the night, 40-32. Beck Warm had another stellar night in goal for Tri-City with 38 saves, while Jack McNaughton, playing strong in the Calgary net, made 29 stops. Special teams were tipped in favor of the Hitmen, who went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-of-4 on the penalty kill.
With the win, the Americans improve to 13-9-0-0 on the season for 26 points, 4th in the U.S. Division, 3 points behind 3rd place Spokane, but in possession of the Western Conference's first Wild Card spot, 3 points ahead of Kelowna. Calgary slips to 10-13-2-1 for 21 points, 5th in the Central, 2 points behind 4th place Medicine Hat and 4 points behind 3rd place Lethbridge. They trail Medicine Hat by 2 points for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Next up for Tri-City, is another home contest this coming Tuesday, November 27th at Toyota Center, as they host the Prince George Cougars, a team they swept on the road in late October. Game time Tuesday is 7:05 pm. The live broadcast with Craig West on Newstalk 870 KFLD and newstalk870.am begins with the Gesa Credit Union Warm Up Show at 6:45 pm. The Hitmen are off until next Friday, November 30th when they play at Red Deer.
Picture credit to Doug Love and amshockey.com
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