RECAP: Americans (3) – Silvertips (1)
Kennewick, WA – The Tri-City Americans went a perfect 8-for-8 on the penalty kill and Lukas Matecha turned in a stellar 32-save performance to lift the Americans to a 3-1 win over the Everett Silvertips Saturday night.
After a scoreless opening frame, the first big test for the Americans penalty kill came in the second period when they were called for three penalties in a row. That included a brief 19-second stretch of 5-on-3 for the Silvertips, but Tri-City weathered the storm to keep the game scoreless.
The game’s first goal didn’t come until late in the middle frame. A pass from below the Silvertips goal line came up to the point for Ethan Peters, and his long wrist shot eluded all the traffic in front before beating Ethan Chadwick on the glove side to put the home team on top. It was Peters’s first goal of the season with Deagan McMillan and Tyson Greenway drawing assists.
Petey gets the crowd on their feet! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/fF3LFQGIyK
— Tri-City Americans (@TCAmericans) October 8, 2023
The Americans carried their one-goal lead into the intermission, despite being outshot 16-6 in the second period.
A perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill to start the third period, Tri-City then received back-to-back power plays of their own and capitalized on the second one to extend their lead. Brandon Whynott took a pass on the goal line and drove toward the net before lifting a sharp-angle shot over the shoulder of Chadwick for his first goal as an American. Max Curran and Jake Gudelj picked up the assists 4:24 into the third.
Less than a minute later Matecha made his finest save of the night when he robbed Ty Gibson’s shot from between the face-off circles with his glove hand, keeping the score 2-0 Americans.
Everett would break Matecha’s shutout bid at the 8:26 mark of the third period with Austin Roest cutting the Americans lead in half.
The Americans’ penalty kill was once again put to the test during the back half of the third period, getting called for infractions at 9:06, 14:30 and 15:44 of the final frame. Matecha and the Americans defense corp were up to the task however, denying the Silvertips at every opportunity to hold the 2-1 lead.
In the final minutes of regulation Gudelj would give the Americans the insurance marker. After Greenway’s shot from the left wing was stopped, the rebound went right up the slot to Gudelj who fired it past the glove hand of Chadwick, restoring the two-goal lead with his first in an Americans jersey. The goal came with just 1:48 remaining in regulation, sealing the 3-1 win.
With the victory, the Americans have now won their last four home openers dating back to the 2020-21 season, and seven of the last eight overall. The lone blemish came during the 2019-20 season.
Tri-City’s next game action is Friday night when they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings for the first time since October 22, 2019.
SCORE: 3-1 TC
SHOTS: 33-21 EVT
