The Tri-City Americans and Wenatchee Wild, who were both winless before this game, faced off Saturday night at the Toyota Center in what was also the Tri-City American’s home opener. After a very even contest through two periods, some poor Wenatchee defense led to Cash Koch netting two breakaway goals and securing a 3-2 Victory for Tri-City.
1st Period
It was easily Tri-City’s best start to a game early into this season and you could tell right out of the gate. Although the game was fairly neutral, Tri-City did not concede right away, which was a big positive.
Head coach Jody Hull credited the strong opening to the energy inside the Toyota Center.
“I think overall we just fed off the energy of the crowd and used it to our advantage.”
Tri-City’s momentum began as the American’s began the first of six power plays on the night. Tomas Racz had a clean look in the slot, but Wenatchee goaltender Tobias Tvrznik turned him aside.
Despite the early push from Tri-City, Wenatchee struck first.
Drew Smith found too much space at the blue line and fired a long shot that was tipped in front by Mason Kraft for his first career WHL goal.
Tri-City nearly answered moments later on a two-on-one rush. Crew Martinson’s shot was stopped, and the rebound landed on the stick of Jaxen Adam, who wired a one-timer straight into Tvrznik’s chest.
The period ended with the Americans pressing hard, peppering shots and creating chaos around the crease, but they headed to intermission trailing 1–0.
Wenatchee led on the scoreboard, but Tri-City held a 14–11 edge in shots and would open the second period on the power play.
2nd Period
The Americans picked up right where they left off. Just as the carry-over power play expired at 1:30, Tri-City broke through.
Gudelj worked the puck along the boards and chipped the puck to Savin Virk. Virk then cut into the slot and ripped a wrist shot bar down on Tvrznik to tie the game.
Midway through the period, Cash Koch nearly gave the Americans their first lead of the season, but his shot clanged off the crossbar — a collective groan then echoing across the Toyota Center.
Tri-City continued to press and drew a late penalty after Jake Gudelj was tripped up on the breakout, setting themselves up with another power play to open the third after a rather uneventful second period outside of Virk’s game-tying goal.
The score was 1-1 after two, and the American’s had a power play to look forward to at the start of the third period. Tri-City outshot Wenatchee 12-6 in the second period alone.
3rd Period
Before the final frame could even begin, play was delayed for an extensive amount of time due to a melted patch of ice, sending both teams back to their locker rooms.
After the game, Hull reflected on the delay and if it affected the team.
“A little bit, I think we were fortunate enough that we were on the power play, so it made it a little bit easier as we had the extra man advantage. Those situations can always be a little bit difficult but I thought we handled it pretty well.”
Once play resumed, Wenatchee killed off the penalty and grabbed early momentum — but Tri-City would soon flip the script.
At 13:30, Cash Koch delivered Tri-City’s first lead of the season with a highlight-reel shorthanded goal.
Gudelj threaded a perfect stretch pass to Koch, who raced in with Wenatchee’s Brandon Osborne on his heels. Without slowing, Koch slipped the puck five-hole as he crashed into Tvrznik. The goal was briefly reviewed but quickly confirmed.
Koch broke down the play following the game:
“I kind of went to the drawing board and thought of a play I thought might work and told all the guys what I thought and we went with it, and just did it there, and it ended up working out thankfully.”
Just a minute later, Koch struck again — this time intercepting an errant Wenatchee pass and skating in alone from the red-line. Koch went high glove side for his second of the night and the eventual game-winner.
Wenatchee refused to go quiet into the night though. With just a minute remaining, Aiden Grossklaus made it 3–2 on the power play, jamming home a rebound after a Mason Kraft shot rang off the crossbar.
Tri-City held strong from there, securing its first win of the season in gritty fashion.
What’s Next/Post Game
Tri-City earned a 3–2 victory, securing not only its first win of the season but also its first-ever home win against the Wenatchee Wild.
The Americans went 0-for-6 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill, but they did strike once shorthanded — a key moment in the win.
On the injury front, Grady Martin missed the game after sustaining an injury Friday in Everett, while Carter Savage remains sidelined.
The victory also marked Jody Hull’s first win as head coach of the Tri-City Americans, and he couldn’t have been happier.
“It’s awesome, lots of hard work, not just myself but from the other coaches and players. We had a tough grind our first three games on the road against really good competition. But getting that first one just feels awesome.”
Hull credited much of the team’s success to the energy inside the Toyota Center on home-opening night.
“I think we fed off the home energy here, too. It’s been tough playing two games in fourteen days and then facing a tough opponent in Everett on Friday, followed by your home opener three and a half weeks into the season. It was exciting tonight and nice to get the win for our players and fans.”
When asked how his players managed their emotions in the home opener, Hull said it reflected the team’s growing identity.
“That’s a part of our identity a little bit, you have to play a little bit emotionally and I think we showed that tonight and the nice thing was that we controlled it. I thought we really controlled our emotions well though in certain situations.”
Tri-City now turns its focus to finishing the weekend strong, wrapping up their three-in-three set Sunday afternoon against the Everett Silvertips, a rematch of Friday’s 7–1 loss.
Hull shared what his team needs to do to come out on top this time.
“We just need a solid sixty-minute effort, they are an excellent team. The nice thing is it’s their third in three too, and they have to travel here. Hopefully we can feed off some of our victory tonight and a little bit of that emotion and carry it into tomorrow’s game.”
Forward Cash Koch echoed that sentiment, saying physicality would be the key to beating Everett.
“We just have to play our game, which is playing physical, we are a big team, and when we play big and physical no team can really handle us.”
Tri-City closes out the weekend as stated above, Sunday at 4:05 p.m., when they host Everett.
