Tri-City Americans hold off Swift Current Broncos 2-1

After dropping their past three games on home ice, the Tri-City Americans gave their fans something to cheer about Wednesday night.

Evan Sarthou made 25 saves, and Parker Bowles scored the game winner in the second period as the Americans beat the Swift Current Broncos 2-1 before an announced crowd of 2,482 at Toyota Center.

“We got a big win on our road trip (at Medicine Hat), and we talked about playing better at home in front of our fans,” Americans coach Mike Williamson said. “This has to be a tough place to play.”

For the Broncos, it was their fourth loss in a row.

“We have been in all of the games,” said Broncos coach Mark Lamb, whose team has not won in Kennewick since Dec. 8, 2004. “We played hard tonight. We had a chance to win, we just have to get on the other side. When you don’t get points, you aren’t happy.”

On top of the win, the Americans (8-12-1-0, 17 points) welcomed defenseman Brandon Carlo back to the ice. The second-round NHL draft pick of the Boston Bruins had been out because of an upper-body injury since Oct. 24.

“It was great to have him back,” Williamson said. “He stabilizes everyone. We were able to play three strong pairings, and Sarts (Sarthou) was big for us tonight.”

Carlo, paired with Parker Wotherspoon, was happy to be back in the lineup.

“It felt good,” Carlo said. “I got the opportunity to take a couple of hits, and that gave me confidence. Seeing that the team needed help on the back end, I wanted to get back out there. It was nice to get the win. We want that mentality every night, and I want to help bring that.”

The Americans, who play at Portland on Friday and host Victoria on Saturday, have won two of their past three games.

“We dug ourselves a hole and need to put ourselves in a position to win and get points,” Williamson said. “We have a lot of games coming up, and we need everyone to step up and play hard.”

Keeping the lead

The Broncos wasted no time in the second to tie the score at 1. Working on their first power play of the night, they needed just 18 seconds for Glenn Gawdin to find the net, taking a pass from Max Lajoie and beating Sarthou with a one-timer from the right face-off circle at 4:53.

Bowles put the Americans back out front at 12:58, taking a slick pass across the crease from Jordan Topping and beating Broncos goalie Landon Bow back door for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.

“When he got the puck behind the net, I yelled at him,” Bowles said. “He put the puck on my stick, and I tapped it in. It was an awesome pass.”

One is better than none

Rookie Nolan Yaremko gave the Americans a 1-0 lead at 6:20 of the first, picking up a loose puck that was sent out front from behind the net by Swift Current’s Jordan Thomson. It was Yaremko’s first goal this season.

Brian Williams appeared to put Tri-City on top 2-0 at 10:50, but after a video review, it was revealed that the puck went in the net past Bow with a high stick.

Tri-City outshot Swift Current 13-8 in the first. The Broncos’ best scoring chance came 4 minutes into the game as Cavin Leth knocked the puck away from Bowles and and headed up ice for a short-handed opportunity. Sarthou calmly turned the puck away.

Coming up empty south of the border

The Broncos are 0-4 on their trek through the U.S. Division. They finish their trip Friday at Spokane. In four games, they have been outscored 16-9.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Tri-City Americans hold off Swift Current Broncos 2-1."