Tri-City Americans Fall to Seattle in Hard-Fought Battle on Home Ice

Setting The Stage:

The Seattle Thunderbirds (7-2-1) entered the contest as the favorites, having already beaten the Tri-City Americans (2-5-1) twice inside the Toyota Center earlier this season. The Ams had reason to be optimistic, however, as the last game on Oct.30 was a 3-2 Over Time thriller.

Getting Things Underway:

The Americans scored first on a power play goal less than 5 minutes into the first period when LW Parker Bell found the back of the net—assisted by Connor Bouchard and Samuel Ho. Seattle then tied it up at 1-1 with a power play goal from RW Mekai Sanders at the 8:08 mark of the period. It didn’t take long for the Thunderbirds to claim the lead; they scored a goal again less than one minute later, courtesy of C Jared Davidson on the power play. EW Mekai Sanders tacked on one more at 15:21, and Seattle held a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.

An Action Packed Second Period:

The Americans came out and controlled the pace of play early in the second, but conceded a short-handed goal to LW Nico Myatovic just two-and-half minute into the period. The Tri-City squad didn’t quit, though, down 4-1. C Jake Sloan quickly responded with a power play goal just 53 seconds after to make it 4-2 at just under three-and-a-half minutes into the second period. The back-and-forth action continued with another Seattle goal at the 4:45 mark. LW Reid Schaefer put the T-birds up 5-2. The Americans returned fire about midway through the second period when Parker Bell scored his second goal of the evening—assisted on a breakaway by Samuel Huo. Bell beat the goalie, blasting it by along the ice left side. That put the Ams back in striking range--trailing 5-3 at the end of the period.

The Final Third:

It was a fairly even third period; neither side really controlled the momentum until the Americans surged late in a last-ditch effort to shorten the two-goal gap. Seattle withstood a series of furious shots and ended up with a one-man advantage following a “too many men” penalty on Tri-City Defenseman Carter Savage shortly after the 16 minute-mark. While the Americans Penalty Kill unit did held strong, the two-minute minor stalled the American advance, and Head Coach Stu Barnes opted to empty the net for an extra skater with under two minutes left in regulation. Ultimately, the Americans could not score again, and Seattle held on until the end of regulation.

Final Score: 5-3

Seattle improves to 8-2-1 on the year, and Tri-City drops to 2-6-1. The two teams will play again in Seattle Saturday night.

Shots on Goal:                       Power Play:

Seattle—35                           Seattle—2/7

Tri-City—16                          Tri-City—2/8