Sunday 9 January 2011

Americans Rout Hurricanes 9-4

KENNEWICK, WA. - A four goal second period lifted the Tri-City Americans to a 9-4 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Saturday night.

The Tri-City Americans came out gunning in this game. Justin Feser fired a rebound passed Dylan Tait to give the Ams a 1-0 lead just a few minutes in. The Canes' would get that one back a about six minutes later. Russ Maxwell picked off a pass in the Tri-City zone and put a shot over the shoulder of Drew Owsley to even the score at 1-1. Before the end of the period though, the Americans would regain their one goal lead. The league's number one power play clicked with just 30 seconds to go in the period to give Tri-City a 2-1 lead. The shots favoured the Americans 14-6 after one period.

In the second, the Americans would score again and early and on another power play. Adam Hughesman fired a one-timer passed Tait to give Tri-City a 3-1 lead. The Hurricanes would again battle back to make it a one goal game. Mike Reddington hammered a point shot low along the ice, beating Owsley for his 3rd goal of the season to make the score 3-2 Tri-City. That goal opened the flood gates for the Americans. Spencer Humphries moved in one a 3-on-2 and put the pucked passed Tait to make it 4-2 Tri-City. Then it was the Brendan Shinnimin show. He scored two more goals for the Americans before the end of the period to give the home team a commanding 6-2 lead after 40 minutes of play. The Canes' pulled goalie Dylan Tait after the 5th Tri-City goal. Brandon Anderson played the rest of the game. The Ams scored 4 goals on just 8 shots in the second period. Tri-City held the edge in shots on goal after two periods 22-14.

In the third, Tri-City would go up by two more. Adam Hughesman would end up scoring back-to-back goals to make it 7-2 and then 8-2. The Amercians weren't done there either. Jordan Messier put another one passed Anderson to make 9-2 Tri-City. Lethbridge battled through to the end and ended up scoring two goals in the final few minutes. Jacob Berglund notched his 10th on a power play to make it 9-3 and then with less than a second remaining in the game, Tyler Kizuik scored just before the horn sounded at the 19:59 mark to make it 9-4 Tri-City and that's the way this game would end. The Canes' were out shot 36-27 on the night. Despite giving up goals on the first two Americans power plays, the Hurricanes managed to hold the potent Tri-City power play off the scoresheet for the rest of the game. The Ams finished 2 for 8 and Lethbridge went 1 for 3.

The Hurricanes have just one win in their passed 11 games and three victories in their last 20. Their record now sits at 13-19-2-6 for 34 points. Wins have been hard to come by for this group and despite that, they still remain in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They have lost ground to a few clubs during the passed six weeks which is certainly a concern. They trail Prince Albert by four points for the final playoff position in the conference, but they have Regina and Brandon breathing down their necks. The Canes' are tied in points with the Pats and Wheat Kings who all have 34.

The Tri-City Americans have three Lethbridge players on their roster. Goaltender Drew Owsley as well as Patrick Holland and Max Moline are members of the Ams. Moline didn't play Saturday, but Owsley and Holland were both factors. Holland chipped in with two assists and Owsley was solid between the pipes to help preserve the win for Tri-City who continue to push Spokane and Portland for top spot in the Western Conference. Owsley did leave the game in the third period and was replaced in the Americans goal by Cam Gorchinski.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes will play their next two games at home this coming week before heading back out on the road for a very busy stretch to play five games in seven days between January 16th and 22nd. The Canes' will take on the Calgary Hitmen in back-to-back-to-back games starting Wednesday night and again Friday evening at the ENMAX Centre and then for a third time Sunday afternoon (2:00 Jan. 16). These are three big games for the Canes', as the last-place Hitmen trail Lethbridge by just 7 points in the Eastern Conference standings. Hurricanes This Week is back on the radio Monday night at 6 pm (MST) on CJOC.

Thanks,
Pat

This blog post is brought to you by http://www.clearlylethbridge.com/.

4 comments:

  1. WOW, thanks for visiting Washington state, and don't forget to bring a pillow to sit on for the long and painful trip home.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i sure hope the canes stay quit at the deadline cosidering how smooth things are going now.....NOT....if preston does not unload some of our higher end talent in a market that you could only call insane for what teams are paying right now for half a year players, it time to buy him a one way bus ticket back to cow town..unload for the future rich, this year is a disaster and will only get worse if we BARELY make it into the playoff...and if we do i can only imagine what the blades or ice will do to this team..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bring in a high energy coach who can get the guys to play.
    This team is underachieving big time.
    There is time left in the season to save the year.....
    It's not about trades, not about draft picks.......it's getting better direction from the coaching staff...

    ReplyDelete