Furious comeback nets Ams OT win over Portland

Kennewick, WA. -- With 4,327 in the Toyota Center roaring their approval, the Tri-City Americans staged an improbable, but not surprising comeback Saturday, defeating the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 in overtime, in a key mid-season U.S. Division contest.

After a scoreless first period, Portland would forge a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes, on a Joachim Blichfeld short handed goal, assisted by Jake Gricius at 18:27 of the middle stanza.

The lead held firm throughout the third for the visitors and grew to 2-0 on a Michael Kvasnica goal, assisted by Clay Hanus at 12:47. But, for the ninth time this season and second consecutive contest, overtime would be required for Tri-City. Captain Nolan Yaremko would dig into the lead with his 15th goal of the season, assisted by Paycen Bjorklund at 14:34 to make it a 2-1 game. Then, at the 19:00 mark, the Hawks' Blichfeld was hit with a delay penalty, for shooting the puck over the glass. The Americans would eagerly take advantage of the gift, by pulling the goaltender and setting up a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute. In the dying moments, in a furious scramble at the Portland net, Yaremko would fire the puck home, tying the game with just 10 seconds remaining, sending the Toyota Center crowd into a frenzy. Yaremko's second of the night and 16th of the season, was a power play/extra attacker goal, assisted by Parker AuCoin and Kyle Olson at 19:50 and sent the game into overtime.

The action continued into the extra session, with plenty of time spent in both ends, before defenseman Aaron Hyman, assisted by Connor Bouchard and Sasha Mutala would strike for his 8th goal of the season and 3rd since joining Tri-City from Regina, ending the game at 3:26 in favor of the Americans, 3-2.

Shots were even on the night, 34-34. Beck Warm was solid once again for the Americans, making 32 saves, while the Winterhawks' Shane Farkas was strong too, making 31 saves. Tri-City was 1-for-6 on the power play and 3-of-3 on the penalty kill.

With the win, the Americans improve to 16-12-1-1 on the season for 34 points, while Portland slips to 19-11-1-2 for 41 points. Tri-City is 4th in the U.S. Division, but holds the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Winterhawks are second in the U.S. Division, 6 points behind third place Spokane.

Coming Up: The Two teams wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule with a matchup at Portland's Moda Center, Sunday afternoon at 5:00 pm. The game can be heard on Newstalk 870 KFLD and online at newstalk870.am with Craig West beginning at 4:345 pm. The teams meet again, in Kennewick to start the post-holiday schedule on Friday, December 28th.