The Tri-City Americans had a night they’ll hope to quickly put in the rearview mirror, falling 9–3 to Prince George at home after conceding six unanswered goals in the third period. It was the third straight meeting against Prince George for Tri-City — and by far the worst outcome for Tri-City in the three meetings.
1st Period
Much like last Saturday, Prince George came out strong and dominated play through the first ten minutes.
It didn’t take long for the Cougars to find the back of the net either — just 1:51 into the game. Lee Shurgot carried the puck along the left wing and stopped along the boards before chipping a pass into the left circle. Kooper Gizowski gathered the puck and fired a bar-down shot past Ryan Grout’s glove side on the first official shot of the game.
That was Gizowski’s ninth goal of the season, and his fourth in the past few nights after recording a hat trick Friday night in Seattle. The former Spokane Chief is now tied for the second-most goals in the WHL.
Not long after, the league’s best power play went to work — and they had themselves a night. Brock Souch made it 2–0 after a Carter Savage boarding penalty.
Just thirteen seconds later, Jett Lajoie scored off a rebound to make it 3–0 Prince George, forcing Americans head coach Jody Hull to pull Ryan Grout in favor of Xavier Wendt.
After the game, Hull discussed what Grout might need to do to get back on track after a rough start to the season.
“I’m not really a goalie, but I think he’s got to prepare himself a little bit more mentally for games. I’m not saying the goals were his fault and tomorrow is a new day.”
Grout finished the night logging just six minutes, facing eight shots and allowing three goals. On the season, Grout is now 0–3 in four appearances with a 7.49 GAA and .848 save percentage.
After Wendt entered the game, he settled in with a few strong saves, and Tri-City began to find their footing for the remainder of the period.
After one, Prince George led 3–0 and outshot Tri-City 14–9, while also converting once on the power play.
2nd Period
Four minutes into the second period, after a few Tri-City icings, Jody Hull elected to use his timeout.
Right after that, the Americans seemed to flip the script.
At the halfway mark of the period, Savin Virk got things going with a power-play goal.
Virk received a pass from Charlie Elick at the point, walked into the right circle, and went bar down on Joshua Ravensbergen to get Tri-City on the board.
Two minutes later, something that wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card happened — Ismail Abogouche scored his second career WHL goal in his 144th career game, cutting the deficit to one.
Crew Martinson chipped the puck out front from behind the Cougars’ net, and a scramble ensued. The puck flipped over to Abogouche at the goal line, and he knocked it in.
Tri-City nearly tied it seconds later, but Virk’s shot rang off the crossbar.
As the period was winding down, Jake Gudelj displayed an excellent forecheck on Carson Carels, forcing the Cougars defenseman to turn the puck over deep in his own end with no support nearby. The puck slid into the slot, where Cruz Pavao picked it up and skated in alone. Pavao faked forehand and went backhand, lifting it over Ravensbergen’s pad to tie the game heading into the third period.
3rd Period
Here’s where things fell apart for Tri-City.
After taking several undisciplined penalties late in the second period, the Americans began the third on the penalty kill with three players in the box. Charlie Elick was serving a double minor after Prince George requested a review following a high-stick, while Dylan LeBret and Jaxen Adam were also penalized for roughing and slashing, respectively.
Head coach Jody Hull shared his thoughts after the game on the debacle at the end of the second period.
“We took a selfish penalty that gave Prince George a power play. Unfortunately, it was a four-minute power play that gave them the five-on-three. When the power play for Prince George runs at almost 35% they’re bound to score goals.”
And score goals they did — six straight, in fact, to blow the doors off the game. Five of those came within a span of just two minutes and thirty seconds early in the third, three of them on the power play.
It was Terik Parascak at 1:29, Bauer Dumanski at 2:03, and Carson Carels at 2:17. Nineteen seconds later, Corbin Vaughan found the back of the net. Then at 4:04, Parascak struck again, getting a bit of revenge after being high-sticked earlier in the game.
At 9:03, Dmitri Yakutsenak capped off the scoring with his second goal of the season.
Post Game/What’s Next
Tri-City falls to 1–2 in the season series against Prince George and 2-6 on the season. The two teams will meet one more time at the Toyota Center on November 29, as the Americans look to split the series.
Prince George outshot Tri-City 46–26 and went an astonishing 4-for-4 on the power play to really stamp themselves with the top power play in the WHL, while Tri-City went 1-for-4 with one shorthanded goal.
Terik Parascak earned first-star honors with a five-point night, Kooper Gizowski claimed second star with four points, and Lee Shurgot rounded out the trio with three points.
Overage Forward Connor Dale made his Tri-City debut and turned in a solid performance, even if he didn’t make it onto the scoresheet.
Jody Hull had nothing but positive things to say about his new forward.
“I think his added experience will help. With Grady Martin out with an injury we decided we needed to get someone in here to help out a little bit. I thought he was pretty good tonight, all things considered.”
For Tri-City fans unfamiliar with Dale, he described his playing style
“I’d say I am a fast and offensive, but can also play in the d-zone, so overall I would say I am a speedy two-way forward.”
Tri-City will need to regroup quickly as they host next year’s Memorial Cup hosts, the Kelowna Rockets.
After the game, Hull discussed what it will take for his team to bounce back and refocus for the matchup against another tough opponent.
“We are a young team, and there’s some learning curves. There’s some things we can use from it. The nice thing about sports is that you get a chance tomorrow to redeem yourself, and I know the guys are gonna be ready to go. Sticking to the gameplan will be important. I thought we early on today were trying to do individual things rather than sticking to what’s being asked to do. I don’t care how good your team is. If you want to start playing an individual game, you’re probably not going to get the results you want. So, sticking to the game plan will be big.”
Puck drop tomorrow against the Rockets is scheduled for 4:05 P.M.
