After a hard-fought effort and a third-period rally on the road at the end of a long road trip, the Tri-City Americans fell in heartbreaking fashion as Portland scored with just four seconds remaining in regulation to win 3–2 and put an end to Tri-City playoff hopes.

First Period

Despite Portland generating two strong chances in the opening two minutes and Tri-City receiving an early power play, the first period remained scoreless.

Tri-City controlled much of the play, outshooting the Winterhawks 15–12 in the opening frame. Defensively the American’s looked sharp, turning in one of their best first periods in quite some time. Their forecheck was effective and they limited Portland’s opportunities, but the only thing missing from the strong start was a goal.

Second Period

Portland head coach Kyle Gustafson clearly made adjustments during the intermission, and the momentum began to swing.

Portland opened the period with 1:26 of power-play time following a late penalty to Tri-City defenseman Charlie Elick. The Americans’ penalty kill stood tall, however, keeping the game scoreless with both teams now 0-for-1 on the power play.

Six minutes into the period, Tri-City nearly broke the deadlock. After a slick setup from below the goal line by Gudelj, Savin Virk had a one-time opportunity on a three-on-two rush but fired the puck just wide in what was their best chance of the game.

Moments later, Ismail Abogouche energized the Tri-City bench by dropping the gloves with Portland’s Luke Wilfley in front of the penalty box. Abogouche landed several solid punches before taking Wilfley down.

Tri-City had been containing Portland effectively, but it took only one rush for the Winterhawks to strike.

At 8:41 of the second, Ryan Miller split the defense and fired a shot on goal. The rebound bounced into the slot where Jordan Duguay buried it to open the scoring.

Portland doubled the lead later in the period when Nathan Free snapped a shot from the bottom of the right circle over the shoulder of Lukas Wendt to make it 2–0.

After two periods, Tri-City’s offense had gone cold and they were in danger of scoring one goal or fewer for the fourth straight game. Portland outshot Tri-City 13–6 in the second and carried the two-goal lead into the final period.

Third Period

Facing what could have been their final meaningful period of the season, Tri-City pushed back.

Tri-City finally broke through with 10:43 remaining. Connor Dale drove the net and fired a shot that created a scramble in front. The puck popped loose to Gavin Garland beside the goal, and he buried it to cut the deficit to 2–1.

Later, a chaotic sequence in front of the Portland net sparked more intensity. As Grady Martin skated past the crease, he accidentally knocked over Portland goaltender Ondrej Stebetak. Jake Gustafson took exception and chased Martin down, forcing him to drop the gloves. The fight was brief with neither landing clean shots before Martin dragged Gustafson down.

Portland was assessed the instigator penalty, giving Tri-City a crucial late power play opportunity.

The American’s 22nd-ranked power play came through at the biggest moment. Cruz Pavao blasted a one-timer from the right circle that slipped past the glove of Stebetak on the far side, tying the game 2–2. The goal was Pavao’s 20th of the season and easily his biggest of the year.

But just when it seemed Tri-City had completed the comeback, Portland delivered a devastating blow to the Tri-City season.

With only seconds remaining, Alex Weirmiar entered the zone on a two-on-two rush and floated a fluttering wrist shot toward the net that appeared to be going wide. Wendt attempted to bat the puck out of the air with his blocker but inadvertently directed it directly onto the stick of Jordan Duguay, who jammed it home past the outstretched stick of Wendt with just four seconds left in regulation to win the game.

Postgame / What’s Next

Tri-City battled back with a strong third period, but the late goal sealed a crushing 3–2 loss to the Portland Winterhawks to mark their fourth defeat in a row to now slide to a 26-33-4-1 record.

With both Victoria and Portland winning, Tri-City now sits six points out of a playoff spot with four games remaining and is virtually eliminated from postseason contention.

The Americans went 1-for-3 on the power play while holding Portland scoreless on its lone man advantage. Portland outshot Tri-City 36–32 in the game.

Tri-City returns home Saturday night for their second-to-last home game of the season when they host their rivals, the Spokane Chiefs one more time, at 6:05 p.m. as they look to finish the season on a positive note.