Tri-City Americans Weekly Report (11/25 – 12/1)

Game One – Wenatchee

Tri-City took their winning ways from the Eastern Conference back home and won a very gritty game against the Wenatchee Wild by a score of 4-3 after a late goal from Carter MacAdams in regulation.

Tri-City got on the board at 5:44 after a series of great passes.

Max Curran gained the Wenatchee zone with numbers and fired a pass to Savin Virk, who had worked his way into the slot. Virk patiently held the puck before passing to top NHL draft prospect Jordan Gavin on the backdoor. Gavin tapped the puck past Daniel Hauser’s outstretched pad, and it was 1-0.

That was all the scoring in the first, and Tri-City carried that 1-0 lead into the second period. The Americans outshot Wenatchee 11-6 after the first.

The Americans would double their lead early in the second period, just under four minutes in.

Off the rush, Tri-City would enter the Wild zone with a three-on-one opportunity.

Carter Savage carried the puck in first on the left wing and fired it across to Gavin Garland, who dropped it back to the trailer, Brandon Whynott in the slot. Whynott picked his spot as he closed in on Hauser and went blocker side.

After the Whynott goal, things flipped in favor of Wenatchee. Wenatchee outshot Tri-City three-to-one in the second period, with shots being 12-4 for Wenatchee. This was a result of the power plays; the Wild had two full power play opportunities in the second and were finishing one at the start of the second period.

The Wild did manage to score a goal throughout all that, just a little over halfway through the second on the power play at 10:04.

Reid Andresen, on the right wing, attempted to find overager Evan Friesen through tons of traffic on the backdoor. The puck hit something and landed right on the stick of Miles Cooper, who was standing right in front of American goalie Lukas Matecha. Cooper then tapped the puck in, as Matecha did not see it.

In the third, the Wild tied things up quickly, taking just under two minutes.

Eastyn Mannix did the dirty work for Wenatchee, carrying the puck into the American zone through four American defenders before backhanding a pass to Maddix McCagherty, who was also coming into the zone along the left wing. McCagherty fired away and went glove side from the faceoff dot on Matecha.

Tri-City took the lead back after getting a shorthanded goal at 6:47 in the third.

Max Curran and Jordan Gavin entered the Wild zone with a two-on-one opportunity. Curran waited for the Wild defenseman to drop and then sauced a pass to Gavin, who fired an absolute bullet of a one-timer past Daniel Hauser of Wenatchee.

The Wild were not finished though. With just three minutes left in the game, they tied it again at 3.

Carter Savage was given the puck and skated backward in the American’s zone; Evan Friesen caught up to him and pickpocketed the puck to make it a two-on-one. Friesen made a perfect feed out net front for Dawson Seitz. Seitz let a wrist shot go from very close, which went high blocker on Matecha.

Tri-City would put the dagger in this game with 11 seconds left in regulation.

Wenatchee was caught during a late line change as Tri-City worked up the puck. Whynott, with the puck barely in the zone and being pressured by several Wild players, made a no-look feed toward the slot. The puck slowly trickled and found Carter MacAdams, who had just burst into the zone. MacAdams then fired one that landed just under the bar and in to complete the score of 4-3. For Whynott, that was his 100th career point in the WHL.

After the game, Tri-City Americans Head Coach Stu Barnes talked about how resilient his team was to win that game.

“It was a really gritty win, with lots of resilience. The guys stayed with them, hung in there, kept working, didn’t give up, and won. That’s always a positive thing when you get into situations like that. “

Game One Notes

Tri-City moves to 2-0 in the season series against the Wild, with both games being played in Wenatchee.

The final shot total was 31-26 in the Wild’s favor.

Special Teams Wise, Tri-City was held to just one power play, which they did not convert on, and Wenatchee was held to 1/5 on the power play.

Entering play, Wenatchee had little success with the power play. Currently, the Wild are sitting 18th overall in the WHL with 19.3% and 20th at home with 17.1%. However, the Wild have somehow managed to make it eleven straight games with a power-play goal.

Stu also talked about finally returning home for four home games after the longest road trip of the season.

“A lot of travel, six games in Canada, twelve days. It was nice being able to come back home for a little while before coming to Wenatchee. So, it will be nice to get back home into our building and dressing room for a game. We’ll also be well aware of who we are playing tomorrow, having played these guys tonight.

Jackson Smith spoke about the CHL/USA Prospects Challenge experience as well.

“It was awesome, great group of guys. I played with a lot of them at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and a few new guys as well. All the top players in this draft class got to see all of them and play with them. Overall, it was just an incredible experience for me.”

Smith also talked about how he learned quite a bit in such a short amount of time.

“I feel my defensive game improved a lot, and I feel like I became a bit more stable and figured out a bit’ more time management. So, I thought I learned a lot.”

Smith is projected to be a top-20 pick for the 2025 NHL Draft in June. In 25 games for Tri-City, the Calgary product has 21 points and a +11.

Goalie-wise, Lukas Matecha made 28 saves on 31 shots, while Daniel Hauser of Wenatchee, the Wild/Ice franchise leader in wins, made 22 saves on 26 shots.

Barnes praised Matecha’s preparation. The Czech netminder’s past four starts have been great, stopping 30 shots in three of his last four games.

“He’s really just an outstanding goalie who prepares very well. He’s always sharp and ready to go when the puck drops.”

For stars, Carter MacAdams was awarded the first star for the game-winning goal. Lukas Matecha got the second star after making some fabulous saves in the third period to keep the game tied at the time. Miles Cooper was granted third star for the Wild with a goal.

Game Two – Wenatchee

Tri-City returned home the next day to take on the Wild for their first home game in nineteen days. Tri-City was not as fortunate on Saturday, losing 5-2 to the Wild in front of the biggest crowd of the season of 5003.

The Americans seemed to be in full control of the game early on, scoring first just 54 seconds in.

After the puck was jammed along the near boards, it popped out to Carter MacAdams. MacAdams spun around and quickly fired a pass to Gavin Garland, who was waiting just beyond the right faceoff circle. Garland then fired a wrister past Zach Zahara’s blocker.

Tri-City would control the first, outshooting Wenatchee 17-9.

Six minutes into the second period, Wenatchee got their own goal.

After the puck was snatched from Max Curran’s stick, Wenatchee walked in with a three-on-two. Maddix McCagherty, skating along the right wing, dropped the puck off to the trailer, Reid Andresen, in the slot. Andresen then fired a wrist shot blocker side to tie the game.

Following two periods of play, the total shot tally was 28-19 in favor of Tri-City, but the score was miraculously still 1-1.

The Wild went on a heater and scored four goals in the third, outshooting Tri-City 16-12.

The Wild took just 30 seconds to get their first one of four.

From outside the right circle, Evan Friesen fired a wrister that took a very strange bounce off Kenta Isogai of the Wild, who was streaking towards the net and in.

Then, on the power play, just three minutes later, Evan Friesen got his own goal to extend the Wild lead to two.

Friesen slowly moved in on the left circle and went five-hole on Matecha to make it 3-1.

Just a minute after the Friesen goal, at 4:51, Nick Anisimiovicz attempted to give Tri-City some life with his fourth goal of the year.

Grady Martin tried to center the puck along the boards to Cruz Pavao; Pavao fanned on it but got just enough on the puck to deflect it to Nick Anisimovicz in the slot. Anisimovicz one-timed it past the diving Zahara, and it was a one-goal game.

However, at 10:16, the Wild regained their two-goal advantage.

With the Wild walking in on a two-on-one, former American Shaun Rios slid the puck over to Zane Saab and shot it over Matechas glove from close quarters.

Wenatchee added an empty netter, sealing the 5-2 Victory, their first over the Americans this season.

Game Two Notes

With the loss, Tri-City moved to 2-1 on the season series, ending a ten-game winning streak at home. The road team has won every game in this in-season series.

Tri-City now sits with a 10-2 record when playing at home.

Wenatchee has now 12 straight games with a power-play goal, as the Wild went 1/3 on the power-play on Saturday. Tri-City did not get a power-play goal that game, going 0/3.

The final shot tally went the way of the Americans, with it being 40-35.

Zach Zahara of Wenatchee had his best start with the team, making 38 saves on 40 shots. Lukas Matecha came back down to earth after having four straight impressive starts. Matecha stopped 30 shots in the game on the 34 he faced.

Zahara, who made 38 saves, earned the first star for his efforts. Wenatchee defenseman Reid Andresen earned second star for his goal, two assists, and a +3 to go with that. Gavin Garland, who got the opening goal, got the third star.

Injuries

Jake Sloan missed both games this weekend and was listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury on the WHL Weekly Report. Following the game on Friday, Stu spoke about Sloan’s absence.

“He’s just a little banged up; we are just ensuring he’s healthy before he comes back in. He’s a huge part for us, but that’s part of the season; injuries happen, and other guys come in and get opportunities as a result.”

What’s Next/Implications

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