Tri-City Americans making headway in run for the playoffs

Points are precious and games are few as the Western Hockey League heads into the final six weeks of the regular season.

For the Tri-City Americans, who are on the outside looking in when it comes to the Western Conference playoff race, things are looking up with 22 games remaining.

The Americans have won their past three games. They also have a five-game winning streak on home ice, where they will play the Victoria Royals on Friday night and the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday.

Americans captain Beau McCue said a lot of things have helped the team turn the corner.

“Mainly, it has been everyone working hard and not getting too eccentric with the plays,” McCue said. “We’re keeping it simple and playing hard. It has been a long time since we have had everyone back in the lineup. Last year and this year have been filled with injuries. It has been nice to have everyone back.”

Entering Friday night’s game, the Americans (23-25-2-0, 48 points) are ninth in the conference standings. They are three points up on Vancouver, and they have three games in hand on the Giants.

Tri-City trails No. 8 Portland by four points, No. 7 Kamloops by six and No. 6 Spokane by seven.

“There are certain games against U.S. Division teams that will have a little more significance,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said. “But right now, with every point out there, we have to give ourselves an opportunity to be in games and win. We have to use this last little stretch to our advantage and play with confidence, but not get ahead of ourselves. We are winning now because we are working hard.”

Another boost for the Americans has been the solid play of goaltender Evan Sarthou.

His overall numbers for the season won’t knock your socks off, but he had a terrific January, going 7-4-0-0 with a 2.99 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

“He’s been sharp,” Williamson said. “He has looked confident, he’s been more aggressive than he was earlier in the year, and he’s fighting for his ice and seeing lots of pucks. I like the way he’s controlling the pace of the game. He’s getting whistles when we need them, he’s putting pucks into areas that make it tough for other teams to get scoring chances, and he’s playing calm and confident.

“You have to have good goaltending to win in this league. Every night since the start of the year, Sarts has made some unbelievable saves. I think he put a lot of pressure on himself at the start of the year; he demanded a lot from himself. But he’s playing confident, and he’s helping us win games.”

A big part of Sarthou’s comfort level has to do with the players in front of him. The Americans have been back to full strength for a couple of weeks, and the results are positive.

“I think having some continuity with our lineup and getting some guys back stabilizes things,” Williamson said. “It seems every time we’d start to get healthy, someone else would get hurt. It was tough to get a rhythm. The last little while, we have had consistency and have been able to get our minutes at a better spot. Everyone is back to where they should be, and we aren’t asking too much of certain guys. We have a lot of depth on the team when everyone is going, and that’s what helping us win hockey games right now.”

And win they must if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Americans have not missed the playoffs since the 2002-03 season, when they suffered through two 12-game winless streaks and finished 20-44-3-5.

“That is never something you want to have on your watch,” McCue said of missing the playoffs. “I have loved all four years here, and I want to give the fans a playoff run. I want to be in the playoffs more than anything, and I know the rest of the guys do as well.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Tri-City Americans making headway in run for the playoffs."