Americans give up 4 goals in third in 4-2 loss to Moose Jaw

The Moose Jaw Warriors had a terrible start to their U.S. Division swing Saturday with a loss at Spokane, but they turned things around Tuesday night.

Dryden Hunt scored two of Moose Jaw’s four goals in the third period as the Warriors rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans before crowd of 2,811 at Toyota Center.

“I didn’t think we were ready to play,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said. “We were in good shape up 1-0, then we let a road team come back on us. It came back to bite us.”

Tri-City (9-14-1-0, 19 points) pulled goalie Evan Sarthou the last 1:30 of the game for an extra attacker, but all that netted was an empty-net goal for Hunt.

“We didn’t do anything to grab the game,” said Williamson, whose team plays at Everett tonight. “We had some chances. We have to be willing to stay in close games.”

Moose Jaw (12-8-3-1, 28 points), which ended a four-game skid, last won in Kennewick on Jan. 2, 2006, a 4-1 victory.

“We’ve been struggling the last couple weeks, losing four in a row,” Hunt said. “Tri-City came out and scored that first goal and that took the life out of us. It’s nice to score a couple and help the team win.”

After a scoreless second period, the Americans took their 1-0 lead in the third period — but it didn’t last long.

Moose Jaw’s Jesse Shynkaruk scored one minute into the the third for a tie game, and 39 seconds later, Nikita Popugaev picked up a loose puck and fired it in the net for a 2-1 Warriors lead.

Tri-City got right back in the game at 4:13 as rookie Parker AuCoin scored his second of the season to tie the score.

“It would have been better had we won,” AuCoin said. “They are a good puck-possession team.”

Hunt gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead at 17:01, then scored an empty-netter to finish things off.

Sarthou finished with 34 saves, while Brody Willms had 31 for the Warriors.

Save at one end, goal at the other

There were 27 combined shots on goal in the first period, but just one puck found its way into the net.

Midway through the period, Sarthou made an impressive skate save on a shot by Moose Jaw’s Brett Howden at the left post. Beau McCue gathered the rebound and sent the puck out to Parker Bowles, who headed up ice. Seconds later, Bowles beat Willms for his team-leading 12th goal at 13:14 to give the Americans a 1-0 lead.

Milestones

Brian Williams scored his 86th career goal Nov. 20 at Portland. He ranks 18th on the team’s all-time goals scored list, tied with Blake Evans. He has 170 career points, tied with Johnny Lazo for 25th on the Americans all-time points list. ... Brandon Carlo will play his 150th WHL game tonight; he needs one point for 50 career points. ... Bowles ranks 26th in team history with 96 assists, one back of Jason Beeman.

NHL Central Scouting Report

Sarthou and defenseman Dylan Coghlan were listed on the latest Players to Watch list for the 2016 NHL Draft. Sarthou earned a B rating, which makes him a second to third-round candidate. Coghlan earned a C rating, making him a fourth, fifth or sixth-round candidate.

There’s no Point

Moose Jaw’s leading scorer Brayden Point missed his third consecutive game Tuesday with an upper-body injury. A 2014 third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Point leads the WHL with 43 points in 19 games. He ranks second with 18 goals and third with 25 assists.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Americans give up 4 goals in third in 4-2 loss to Moose Jaw."