Game One – Everett Silvertips
Tri-City and Everett rematched after an overtime thriller between the two teams just five days prior. This game did not disappoint either, as Tri-City won a wild and wacky matchup 8-6 to extend their winning streak to an impressive ten games.
After Everett opened scoring at 7:31, Tri-City went on to score five straight unanswered goals from five different goal scorers, which included three power-play goals and a goal from Jake Gudelj in the chaos to extend his goal streak to four games.
Following two periods of play, it seemed Tri-City would cruise to a victory, holding a 5-1 lead.
However, Everett came out of the gates swinging and utterly dominated the first half of the third period, sending wave after wave into the Tri-City zone. Everett made it a one-goal game after three goals during this hot spell in the first ten minutes of the third.
However, Carter MacAdams, at 8:41 in the third period, flipped the script again, and as the overager barreled in on a two-on-one, sniped Everett goalie Alex Garrett on the high-blocker side. Tri-City would add two more from Max Curran and Cash Koch to make it 8-4.
Everett had another spurt of energy towards the end of the game and added two goals in the last six minutes to make the final score 8-6.
Game One Notes
This is the first time since 2011/12 the Tri-City Americans have won ten games in a row.
That year, Tri-City went 50-18-2-2 and were led by a 134-point campaign from American legend Brendan Shinnimin, who appeared in 12 career NHL games with the Arizona Coyotes, Adam Hugheseman’s 116-point season, and Patrick Holland’s 109-point effort who went on to play in five NHL games for the Montreal Canadiens. Current NHL Goaltender Eric Comrie was also a rookie on the team.
Cash Koch netted two goals against the Tips’ on Friday night. This was Koch’s first multigoal game in his WHL career.
The American’s power play was firing on all cylinders Friday night, and it was a big part of why they took down the top team in the WHL for the second time. Tri-City went an astounding 4/5 on the power play.
Tri-City distributed the puck well, as the Americans had six different goal-scorers.
Everett dominated the third period, outshooting Tri-City 18-6. However, Tri-City still managed to net three goals on only six shots. The final shot tally was 40-24 in favor of Everett.
2005-born netminder Alex Garrett, in his fourth start for the Silvertips after being traded to Everett from Calgary, had his worst start yet. Garett managed to give up eight goals on only 24 shots. Garrett officially lost his first game with Everett and now has a 3-1 record, 4.88 GAA, and a .798 save percentage.
On the other end, Lukas Matecha of Tri-City had 34 stops on 40 shots but made some key saves, including a possible save of the year in the second period, to keep Tri-City’s momentum. Matecha was able to reach his stick out at the last second and miraculously stop the Everett shooter, who had almost the entire net wide open from close quarters.
Tri-City stayed very disciplined against the Silvertips, only allowing Everett three power play opportunities in the game, two of which were in the first ten minutes of the first period.
Carter MacAdams achieved first-star honors after a robust two-goal performance, Jordan Gavin of Tri-City got second-star honors with a goal and two assists, and Cash Koch came home with the third star with two goals and an assist.
Tri-City will play Everett next on December 14th. The Americans, who are 1-13-1 in Everett the past five years, will face a tall task as the Silvertips will have generational player Landon DuPont for that game, a player the Silvertips were missing during the past two matchups against Tri-City.
Game Two – Red Deer Rebels
Tri-City finished the week with a 7-2 thrashing of the Eastern Conference Red Deer Rebels. This is only the third time the two sides have played each other in the past five years, and the Rebels had won both matchups entering that night.
The game was very scrappy, with 78 PIMs combined on both sides and several fights.
Tri-City got out to a controlling start, leading 4-1 after the first period, which included a goal from the hard-working Grady Martin, who netted his first goal as an American.
The Americans scored two shorthanded goals in the first. Both were on the same penalty kill. One goal was from Jake Sloan, who came streaking in on the left wing and put it past Rebel goalie Rhett Stoeser, and another was on a breakaway from Brandon Whynott.
Tri-City would add three more goals, including a goal from Jake Gudelj, to make it five straight games with a goal.
Red Deer got two goals in the game from import Samuel Drancak and Cohen Poulin but never stood a chance as the final score was, as stated, 7-2.
Game Two Notes
Tri-City has now won eleven games in a row and will look to make it twelve to close out the homestand before their eastern road trip against another Eastern Conference opponent in the Calgary Hitmen on Monday evening.
Forward Grady Martin’s goal on Saturday night was his first goal in 41 games. Martin’s last goal came against the Brandon Wheat Kings on January 14th when he was on the Prince Albert Raiders.
Defenseman Carter Savage, who is in his fourth year with the Americans, had a three-assist night and a +3. This is the most points Savage has had in a single game in his 129-game WHL Career, all spent with Tri-City.
Terrell Goldsmith’s defensive play has been incredible for the Americans. After Saturday night, Goldsmith’s +/- is up to +16, good enough for fourth among WHL defensemen. The closest to Goldsmith on Tri-City among defensemen is top NHL draft prospect Jackson Smith, who holds a +12.
Tri-City backup goalie Nathan Preston had another stellar game. Preston stopped 47 of the Rebels’ 49 shots for his second career WHL win. With Tri-City, Preston is 2-1, has a 3.00 GAA, and a .930 save percentage. This is the most saves he has made in his short WHL career of seven starts.
The Americans held the Red Deer power play to absolutely nothing, as the Rebels went 0/6 on the power play Saturday night. Tri-City is now tied for second place for the highest penalty kill percentage in the WHL, at 81.2%. The Wenatchee Wild have the strongest penalty kill in the league, with a penalty kill percentage of 86.2%.
Tri-City beat down on the opposing goalie yet again. Red Deer was forced to make a goalie change following the first period. Rhett Stoeser was replaced after giving up 4 goals on only 10 shots. NHL Draft Pick of the Minnesota Wild, Chase Wutzke, would play the last two periods and have 15 saves on 18 shots.
Following Saturday night’s loss, the Rebels have scored the second-fewest goals in the WHL, with 50.
Brandon Whynott picked up first-star honors with two goals and an assist. This is the third time that Whynott has achieved first-star honors this season. Nathan Preston came home with the second star with 47 saves, and Carter Savage got third-star honors with his three assists.
Transactions
2005-born Rookie Shaun Rios was removed from the Americans roster Sunday, and it was announced Monday morning that Rios had been traded to the Wenatchee Wild for a conditional 2028 seventh-round pick.
Rios appeared in nine games for the Americans and scored three goals. According to GM Bob Tory, the trade was made so that Rios could get more playing time. Rios was the second overall pick in the 2020 WHL U.S. Priority Draft to Tri-City.
Cruz Pavao finished his stint at the U17 World Hockey Challenge Saturday night and will return to Tri-City. Pavao had three points in four games and earned a silver medal with Canada Red after falling to Canada White in the Gold Medal game.
Standings
With the eleven-game heater Tri-City has been on after starting the season 1-3-1, the Americans sit third in the Western Conference with a record of 12-3-1. Tri-City is tied for second with the Prince George Cougars but has played three fewer games than the Cougars.
Tri-City is currently four points off the top spot with 25, but if they win the next two games, they will tie Everett for the top spot in the Western Conference, which has 29.
What’s Next
The Americans have three games next week, including the last game of their second-longest homestand of the season against the Calgary Hitmen on Monday evening with puck drop at 7:05 p.m.
Following that, Tri-City begins their Eastern Conference Road trip with a game against the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night and plays the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Saskatoon Blades, on Saturday.
Last season, the Americans, on their Eastern Conference swing, went 1-5 in a trip to forget, which included a 12-1 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
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