Americans take a much-needed point off Swift Current

The Tri-City Americans went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the Western Hockey League on Wednesday night, and while they did not get the win, they got a much-needed point.

Aleksi Heponiemi scored at 2:23 of overtime as the Swift Current Broncos escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Americans before a crowd of 2,428 at Toyota Center.

“It was a good character game, and a big point,” said Tri-City coach Mike Williamson, whose team dropped its fifth in a row. “We saw a deep team that scores a lot of goals and we held them to three. Patty (Patrick Dea) played outstanding in goal. The point is important. We have to take the positive away from this.”

Tri-City (22-16-6-0, 50 points) are tied for third on the U.S. Division with Seattle. Both teams are just one point in front of Spokane. The Americans will host the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday.

Swift Current (32-10-3-0, 67 points), the No. 4-ranked team in the CHL this week, has the second-best record in the WHL behind Moose Jaw.

“It would have been nice to have played that game with everyone in the lineup,” Williamson said. “We had three 16-year-olds in there, and they played against some of the top guys in the league. (Jake) Bean and Cogs (Dylan Coghlan) played 30 some minutes an did an outstanding job.”

Bean, acquired from Calgary at the trade deadline, scored the game-tying goal with 3:01 left in regulation, taking a pass off the far wall from Morgan Geekie and putting the puck in an open net behind Stuart Skinner.

“I saw it develop,” Bean said of the play. “Geeks is a really special player. He made it easy on me. Knowing we can play with one of the top teams in the league, without our top guys in the lineup, gives us confidence.”

In overtime, Dea stopped three shots before the fourth one got past him. He finished with 37 saves, including 24 between the second and third periods as he held the Broncos scoreless.

“They are a good team. They were a good test for us,” Dea said. “The guys worked hard. Bean has been awesome since he’s been here. The guys were clearing second and third chances, and guys like Coiner (Parker AuCoin) are laying down in front of everything. When we get some guys back, we will be a threat in the West.”

Down but not out in the second, the Americans finally made good use of one of their power plays as Jordan Topping took a feed from Geekie and beat Skinner for his team-leading 23rd goal.

It was just the second goal in three games allowed by Skinner, a third-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 NHL draft, and the WHL and CHL goalie of the week. Skinner finished with 24 saves.

Late in the second, the Americans killed off a Swift Current power play. The Broncos are ranked No. 1 in the WHL on the man advantage at 33.3 percent.

In a fast-paced first period, the teams were scoreless the first 14 minutes, then the Broncos broke free for a pair of goals before the end of the frame.

Matteo Gennaro took advantage of the Americans’ inability to clear the zone, taking a pass from Heponiemi and shooting the puck behind Dea for his 30th goal of the season.

Heponiemi found the net with 56 seconds left in the period, skating down the right lane, gathering a pass from Kaden Elder and beating Dea.

Giorgio Estephan, playing in his 300th WHL game, added the second assist for his 299th career point.

Tri-City squandered a 5-on-3 power play earlier in the period. With two Broncos in the box for 1:32, the Americans managed just one shot on goal as the Broncos put their highly regarded penalty kill to work.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Americans take a much-needed point off Swift Current."