Tri-City entered the night with four of their next six games scheduled at home after three weeks of relentless travel to begin the new year. Despite a strong opening 40 minutes and plenty of chances to score, the Americans surrendered three unanswered goals in the final ten minutes and fell 3–1 to the Portland Winterhawks on Friday night.

First Period

Tri-City nearly struck early as Crew Martinson almost continued his impressive rookie campaign just two minutes in. Aden Bouchard sent a centering feed to Martinson, but he couldn’t get much on it as the puck rolled off his stick and into the pad of Ondrej Stebtak.

Outside of that early chance, the Americans were flying in their first game back at home, controlling possession and setting a physical tone. Cash Koch and Aden Bouchard delivered several solid hits in the opening ten minutes.

Stebtak came up big midway through the period, making an incredible pad save on Virk, who attacked the net with speed and tried to tuck it short side.

Both teams earned power-play opportunities late in the period, but neither could convert, and the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.

Second Period

Tri-City came out of the locker room with continued pressure, creating multiple quality chances. Connor Dale sent a backhand from the near boards toward the net, but Virk’s redirection slid just wide.

David Krcal then had the best chance of the night for the Americans up to this point. After a scramble in front, the puck popped out to him with an open net from the far boards, but his shot sailed untouched through the crease.

Tensions flared later in the period when Cash Koch jumped Nathan Brown as both were heading to the benches to change during play. Brown offered little resistance, and Koch was assessed a double minor, giving Tri-City a tough four-minute penalty kill.

The Americans’ penalty kill rose to the challenge, killing off all four minutes as Wendt continued to shine.

Late in the second, Gavin Garland and Cruz Pavao forced a turnover at center ice and broke in on a two-on-one. Garland slid a backhand pass to Pavao on the backdoor, but the shot went wide.

After two periods, the game remained scoreless. Tri-City led 20–19 in shots, setting up an intriguing third.

Third Period

The third would prove to be very chaotic, but Tri-City did start off on the right track.

Just under halfway through the third, the deadlock was finally broken during four-on-four play.

Blue Jackets prospect Charlie Elick received a feed from Carter Savage at the right point, skated into the right circle with time and space, and ripped a wrist shot past Stebtak to give Tri-City a 1–0 lead.

Portland nearly answered less than a minute later as Luke Christopherson blasted a one-timer from the left point that rang off the post and trickled behind Wendt before sliding out of the crease.

Following sustained pressure, Portland eventually broke through. Alex Weirmiar, the Winterhawks’ leading scorer, took a centering feed from Jordan Duguay behind the net and one-timed it past Wendt for his 25th of the season.

With five minutes remaining, momentum fully shifted. Max Psecnicka hammered a slapshot from the point that beat Wendt clean, giving Portland its first lead of the night and marking goals in back-to-back games for the defenseman.

As Tri-City was about to head to the power play, Jaxen Adam took an undisciplined cross-check behind the Portland net, negating the advantage and forcing four-on-four play.

Assistant coach T.J. Millar addressed the mistake postgame.

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t talking about that to him. I think that was one of those things though where you didn’t really need to say anything, because we’ve had a lot of conversations, and that is something that just cannot happen.”

That penalty proved costly as it removed valuable minutes Tri-City could have spent on the attack full time. In the final seconds, Portland cleared the puck, and Weirmiar sealed the game with an empty-net goal, his second of the night, completing Portland’s third unanswered tally in the final ten minutes.

Postgame / What’s Next

Tri-City drops its second straight, falling 3–1 and slipping to sixth place in a tightly packed Western Conference with a 22–17–3 record.

Millar shared his thoughts following the loss.

“We lost a lot of our composure beginning from a late part of the second period going into the third. We were physical in the first and they started pushing back and the game got chippy and we got a bit undisciplined. We were looking for things after the whistle more than we needed to, and that ended up costing us. You look at the retaliatory penalty with four minutes left — it kind of put the nail in the coffin for us. Undisciplined, lazy, and then you get that result.”

Grady Martin skated in his 200th career WHL game.

Tri-City’s penalty kill continued its strong stretch, holding Portland scoreless on all three power-play opportunities, including the second-period double minor.

The Americans now head into a tough Wenatchee building looking to snap their two-game skid. Puck drop is set for 6:05 PM.

Millar also spoke about what the team needs to do to get back on track.

“You saw it at the beginning of the game — we have to be physical, we have to be on top of teams, and we have to work. Wenatchee is a very tough place to play. They’re fast, physical, very aggressive. Sometimes they lose structure because of that, and we just have to be simpler and manage pucks if we want to be successful.”