Prince Albert rallies past Tri-City Americans

After getting pushed around by the Tri-City Americans the past 10 years, the Prince Albert Raiders finally had enough.

Reid Gardiner and Austin Glover each had a goal and an assist, and Rylan Parenteau finished with 31 saves as the Raiders rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Americans on Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 2,700 at Toyota Center.

“I thought we found our legs as the game went along,” said Raiders coach Marc Habscheid, whose team is just 3-8 against the Americans over the past 11 years. “(The Americans) came out physical, but that 2-2 goal really helped push us forward.”

The Americans (3-3-1-0, 7 points), who outshot the Raiders 34-28, saw their 2-1 lead melt away in the second period with a pair of Prince Albert goals.

“I thought we created enough offense to win the hockey game,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said. “We turned the puck over, and our coverage in our zone was loose, and that enabled Prince Albert to create offense. We have to be better without the puck.”

Prince Albert’s Sean Montgomery tied the score at 2 at 12:08 of the second, and Gardiner scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 14:29 for a 3-2 lead.

Cal Babych made it 4-2 Raiders early in the third, but the Americans came back with a tally by Jordan Topping at 12:57 to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Matteo Gennaro sealed the win for Prince Albert (6-2-0-1, 13 points) with a goal at 15:27.

The Americans opened the scoring at 3:16 of the first period. Parker AuCoin gathered a loose puck and swept it into the net past Parenteau for his first Western Hockey League goal.

“It’s nice to get it in and to make an impact,” AuCoin said. “Our line (Morgan Geekie and Nolan Yaremko) did a good job tonight. We made the most of every shift. I think as a team, we created a lot of chances, and when you play that well, it’s tough not to get any points.”

After the Raiders knotted the score at 1 with a goal by Glover, Tri-City found itself on a 5-on-3 power play.

Brian Williams scored his first goal of the season off a cross-ice pass from Parker Bowles for a 2-1 lead.

SAVE OF THE NIGHT: With 3:30 left in the first period, Prince Albert’s Simon Stransky forced a turnover in Tri-City’s end and had Evan Sarthou all to himself, but the Americans’ goalie stretched out and stopped the puck with his left pad to keep the Americans’ lead at 2-1. Sarthou finished with 23 saves.

MILESTONE: Williams played his 263rd game Wednesday, moving him to 16th on the team’s all-time games played list. Brent Ascroft (1992-97) is atop the list at 355, followed by Justin Feser (2008-13) with 351.

NEXT UP: The Americans play Friday night at Vancouver and will host the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday.

ON THE MEND: Vancouver’s Tyler Benson could return to the lineup Oct. 23, when the Giants host the Seattle Thunderbirds. Benson has been sidelined since the start of training camp after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst on his tailbone, according to Cam Tucker of Metro Vancouver.

TRADING BLOCK: The Kamloops Blazers acquired overage forward Gage Quinney from the Kelowna Rockets for a third-round bantam pick in 2016. The Blazers also put 20-year-old forward Luke Harrison on WHL waivers. Today is the WHL overage deadline. Each team may have a maximum of three 20-year-old players.

CHL TOP 10: The Calgary Hitmen are third in this week’s CHL poll, the highest-ranking WHL team. The Erie Otters are first, followed by Shawinigan, Calgary, Drummondville, Victoria, Brandon, Rouyn-Noranda, Rimouski, London and Windsor.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Prince Albert rallies past Tri-City Americans."