Tri-City put an end to what had been arguably their worst stretch of hockey so far this season with a 4-1 win over the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday night in a very chippy, physical contest where Tri-City wore Snoopy-themed jerseys for Specialty Jersey Night.

First Period

Savin Virk got Tri-City off to an absolutely stellar start, scoring just sixteen seconds into the game.

Josh Toll of Wenatchee carried the puck out from behind his net, but his pass was blocked right in front of the goal. Virk gathered the loose puck, quickly spun around, and wired a wrist shot past Tvrznik, who was in net for the second straight night for Wenatchee. The goal was Virk’s team-leading 11th of the season.

Tri-City head coach Jody Hull spoke after the game about how important it was to score early, especially with goals being hard to come by in recent games.

“That was big, it gives you some momentum and puts them on their heels, even though they responded shortly after.”

As Hull noted, Wenatchee responded immediately, answering just a minute later as the game got off to a very fast start.

After a turnover in the Tri-City zone, Aiden Grossklaus found the puck in the slot, spun quickly, and fired a wrist shot that beat Xavier Wendt to tie the game.

Tri-City reclaimed the lead halfway through the first period thanks to a nice play involving Gavin Garland and Savin Virk.

On a two-on-one rush, Garland entered the Wenatchee zone down the left wing with speed and slid the puck over to Virk. Virk carried it briefly before saucering a pass back to Garland on the back door, where Garland banged it home.

No further goals were scored in the opening frame, as Wendt made several strong saves late in the period to help Tri-City maintain a 2-1 lead.

Despite the physical tone, both teams surprisingly stayed out of the penalty box, with Wenatchee outshooting Tri-City 12-6 through the first 20 minutes.

Second Period

Just one minute into the second period, the game’s first penalty was called as Aiden Grossklaus was assessed a high-sticking double minor. That gave Tri-City four minutes of power-play time, and after going 0-for-3 the night before, the Americans looked to get their power play rolling at a pivotal moment.

Tri-City controlled the puck in the Wenatchee zone for the first three minutes and generated several dangerous chances. Wenatchee eventually cleared the zone and got a change, and Virk’s attempt to quickly re-enter the puck was whistled down for offside.

Wenatchee killed off the remainder of the penalty, escaping unscathed.

Midway through the period, Alexandre Andre of Wenatchee spent an entire shift going after Tri-City rookie Jesse McKinnon, delivering several extra hits well after McKinnon had moved the puck. Ismail Abogouche had seen enough.

Abogouche stepped in, the two dropped the gloves, and the Toyota Center erupted. Abogouche landed several heavy punches, but Andre managed to stay on his feet before dragging Abogouche down to the ice.

Tri-City extended its lead to 3-1 off what initially appeared to be a harmless shot from Carter Savage.

The old saying “get pucks on net” rang true. Savage snapped a shot from the right point with no traffic in front. Tvrznik made the initial save, but the puck popped loose as he couldn’t cover it. Connor Dale, lurking in the blue paint, swept up the rebound and slid it past Tvrznik.

The 3-1 score held through the remainder of the period, sending Tri-City into the final frame up two goals and 20 minutes away from snapping a four-game losing streak.

Third Period

Tri-City scored the lone goal of the third period, marking just their second power-play goal in their last 28 opportunities.

Eleven minutes in, Connor Dale fired a shot from the left circle that was stopped by Tvrznik, but the rebound sat loose in the crease. Alexander Laing, positioned in front of the net, chipped away at it before Dylan LeBret swooped in and banged it home for his third goal of the season.

From there, Tri-City shut things down defensively and held off Wenatchee for the remainder of regulation to secure the 4-1 victory.

Postgame / What’s Next

With the win, Tri-City snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 14-13-2 on the season, moving back above .500 while remaining ninth in the Western Conference.

Hull shared his thoughts on the 4-1 win after the game.

“I thought it was a good bounce back for us from last night, and those previous games. I saw some things happening last night for us, that was kind of like, maybe we’re coming out of this a little bit. We saw some of that in video before the game tonight, and I thought, I thought we kind of executed that stuff tonight in this game. And you know, we got rewarded for it.”

Tri-City finally broke through on the power play, scoring their first man-advantage goal since last Saturday in Spokane. Entering the night, the Americans were just 2-for-28 on the power play.

Hull discussed the adjustments made to the power play following the game.

“We changed a couple things up, we changed our breakout up tonight, and then, just kind of our shot mentality. You know, get to the net. That’s how the goal was scored, we shot it, rebound was there, it’s not rocket science. Sometimes players overanalyze it and try to do things that they really don’t need to do. And then, you know, things don’t work out. So, the age old saying, just back to the basics.”

Offensively, Tri-City had scored just five goals over their previous four games, but matched nearly that total with four goals in this contest. Hull explained what changed.

“Our puck play, where we’re putting the puck. We’re a team that has to play below the goal line in the offensive zone, and when we do that, we get pucks to the front of the net from there. That’s where we create some chances. We had chances from those positions, we just missed the net on our shots too.”

Tri-City is also currently without one of its top defensemen and a fast-rising NHL Draft prospect, Jakub Vanecek.

Vanecek, who was selected for Czechia’s World Junior camp, is headed to Minnesota to compete for a spot on the Czechia World Junior team and a chance to play at the World Junior Championship, one of hockey’s biggest stages.

Hull spoke about what the opportunity means for Vanecek and the organization.

“It’s awesome, anytime anyone can go to World Juniors, it’s a pretty amazing experience. Getting a chance to represent your country, he deserves it. He’s come over, played extremely well, and his stock keeps rising. Not too often do 17-year-olds get those opportunities. That’s kudos to how he’s played.”

Tri-City will wrap up the weekend with a Sunday matinee matchup against the Seattle Thunderbirds at 4:05 p.m.