Topping’s hat trick powers Tri-City Americans past Portland
The Tri-City Americans needed two points, and they went out and got them Wednesday night.
Jordan Topping had three goals and an assist to help the red-hot Americans to a key 6-4 victory over the reeling Portland Winterhawks at Toyota Center.
Tri-City (36-23-3-0, 75 points), which has won five in a row, is seven points back of leader U.S. Division-leading Everett, and six behind No. 2 Seattle.
Portland (32-25-1-3, 68 points), which has lost three in a row, is 3-6 against the Americans this season.
The Americans got off to a quick start with Topping scoring the first of his three goals at 5:38. He followed up with another 4 minutes later, and a goal by Parker Wotherspoon made it 3-0 Tri-City at 13:37, chasing Portland starter Cole Kehler from the net.
“I loved our start,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said. “We let them back in, but we got the two points. It’s a big win against a team that is trying to catch us.”
The Winterhawks added a little drama to start the second, getting two goals in a span of 5:03 for a 3-2 game.
Topping would finish off his hat trick at 17:59, and Kyle Olson scored 1 minute later for a 5-2 Tri-City lead with the period winding down.
“(Topping) puts pucks on net and he has such a good release,” Williamson said. “He is pretty dangerous.”
But Portland wasn’t finished making a statement. Evan Weinger scored his second of the night with 5 seconds left in the second for a 5-3 game.
Ryan Hughes pulled the Winterhawks within 5-4 just 3:08 into the third period, but that would be the end of Portland’s scoring.
Tri-City added one more to its tally as Austyn Playfair scored his first of the season at 13:16 to seal the win on coach Mike Williamson’s 44th birthday.
“When you have a 3-0 lead and it goes to 3-2, you don’t feel very young,” Williamson said.
Evan Sarthou finished with 41 save for the Tri-City, which will host Seattle on Friday in its annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
“Portland is an offensive team and throws a lot of pucks at the net,” Williamson said. “He had to make some big saves for us.”
Americans 6, Winterhawks 4
Portland | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 4 |
Tri-City | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 6 |
First — 1, TC, Topping 19 (Geekie, Välimäki), 5:38 (pp). 2, TC, Topping 20, 9:20 (pp). 3, TC, Wotherspoon 10 (Yaremko, Jeri-Leon), 13:37. Penalties — Jones, Por (holding), 5:04; Veloso, Por (tripping), 9:02; James, TC (interference), 17:14.
Second — 4, Por, Iverson 18 (Jones, McKenzie), 3:45 (pp). 5, Por, Weinger 19 (Jones), 5:03. 6, TC, Topping 21 (Olson), 17:59. 7, TC, Olson 15 (Sandhu, Topping), 18:53. 8, Por, Weinger 20 (Texeira), 19:55. Penalties — O’Reilly, TC (boarding), 3:28; Quigley, Por (tripping), 11:30; AuCoin, TC (interference), 15:45.
Third — 9, Por, Hughes 25 (Blichfield, Jokiharju), 3:08. 10, TC, Playfair 1 (Välimäki, Yorke), 13:16. Penalties — Hughes, Por (high-sticking), 8:04.
Shots — Por 14-17-14 —45. TC 12-8-9 —29. Power plays — Por 1-3. TC 2-4. Goalies — Por, Kehler (11 shots-8 saves), Farkas 3-4-0-0 (13:38 of 1st, 18-15). TC, Sarthou 9-6-2-0 (45-41). Referees — Troy Paterson and Mark Pearce. A — 2,604.
This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Topping’s hat trick powers Tri-City Americans past Portland."