Raiders Snap Skid vs. Americans Behind 5-2 Win
By Dan Mulhausen | Tri-City Americans
PRINCE ALBERT, SK – It has not happened often over the past few seasons but, on Tuesday night in Saskatchewan, the Americans let a game slip away.
Behind a 3-goal outburst in the second period, the Tri-City Americans (4-1-1-0, 9 pts) saw a two-goal lead fall into the hands of the Prince Albert Raiders (3-3-0-0, 6 pts), a lead they never relinquished, as the Raiders skated onto a 5-2 win in front of 2,096 fans at Art Hauser Centre. For Prince Albert, the win marked their second consecutive victory over a ranked team, who knocked off previously undefeated Brandon on Saturday, and snapped the franchise’s five-game losing streak to the Americans. Meanwhile, Tri-City, who has finished above .500 away from home the past four seasons, fell to 1-1-1-0 early into 2010.
Despite a 10 to 5 shot disadvantage in the first period, Drew Owsley and the Americans’ defense held strong through the first 20 minutes.
Even better, just 1:12 into the second period and on the power play, Brock Sutherland gave Tri-City the first goal of the game. Sneaking in behind the play, Justin Feser found Sutherland at the far post, who collected his first goal of the young season. Nearly 10 minutes later, and back on the power play, Brendan Shinnimin redirected a pass from Adam Hughesman, past Raiders’ netminder Jamie Tucker, to extend his career-best point streak to six games and the Americans’ lead.
But, with 6:30 remaining in the period, the Raiders began pushing the snowball downhill. A Tri-City turnover behind their net led to Jonathan Parker finding Justin Maylan on the goal line. From there, Maylan whipped a shot on Owsley which found its way between his pads and into the net. Exactly three minutes later, and with the goaltender screened, Parker let a shot go from the right circle that beat Owsley high on the glove side. Then, with 1:49 left in the period, Mark McNeill knocked in a Sebastian Svendsen rebound to put the Raiders on top for good. And, just like that, in a 4:41 span, the Americans went from leading 2-0 to trailing 3-2 at the end of 40 minutes.
Similar to their last road game, the Americans had to hit the come-back trail to start the third period. However, just 5:31 in, the hill got a little steeper after Igor Revenko slipped a wrap-around attempt past Owsley at the near post to make it 4-2.
Down but not out, the Americans peppered Tucker with shots in the third, out chancing the Raiders 13 to 9 over the final 20 minutes. But, with 4:18 remaining, Parker broke in on a 2-on-1, eventually beating Owsley to cap the scoring in the contest.
Tucker picked up the win and finished the night with 25 saves on 27 shots. Owsley, meanwhile, suffered his first loss of the season while collecting 30 of the 35 shots he faced. A bright spot for Tri-City was their special teams, which finished the night 2-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Americans, as they return to the ice tomorrow, October 6 and face-off against the Saskatoon Blades (4-1-0-0). Game time is 6:05 pm (PST) at the Credit Union Centre. The Blades, currently first in the East Division and ranked #7 in the latest CHL Top-10, come into Wednesday’s contest having won two straight overall. Meanwhile, the Americans enter a building in which they are 1-12-1-0 with 2 ties all-time. Their lone victory at Credit Union Centre, a 7-1 win, came back on February 27, 1996. Fans can catch all the action live, via WHL WebTV, at the Americans’ home away from home, Kimo’s Sports Café in Richland. The game will also be broadcast live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Sterling Savings Bank Warm-up Show at 5:45 pm (PST).
Applebee’s 3 Stars:
1, Jonathan Parker, Prince Albert
2, James Bettauer, Prince Albert
3, Ryan Button, Prince Albert
