Americans fall to Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 in WHL battle

A slow start spelled doom for the Tri-City Americans on Friday night.

Seattle jumped out to a three-goal lead after the first period and held off the Americans for a 4-2 win before a Toyota Center crowd of 4,568.

“I think we were ready to play, but they scored on their chances, and we mismanaged the puck,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said of the first period. “We need to focus on getting a good start. This game is over with. We need to get ready for tomorrow (against Prince George).”

The Americans (29-28-2-1, 61 points) fell four points behind eighth-place Kamloops, and are five points back of Portland and Spokane in the race for a Western Conference playoff spot.

“We lost, and teams we are chasing got points,” Williamson said. “We can’t control that. We have to have a better performance tomorrow.”

Ryan Gropp and Mathew Barzal each had a goal and an assist for the Thunderbirds (34-23-3-0, 71 points), who are second in the U.S. Division but have a scant five-point lead over Portland and Spokane.

“This was exactly what I expected,” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said of the game. “We played a good, desperate hockey team. Everyone has to play good, hard hockey right now. Every night is a fresh start. You have to go out there and battle.”

The Thunderbirds were clinging to a 3-2 lead after two periods, but got an insurance goal from Barzal at 4:45 of the third for a 4-2 lead and a little breathing room.

The Americans made a late push, pulling goalie Nick Sanders with 3:20 to play for an extra attacker, but could not find the net.

“They fought back hard,” Konowalchuk of the Americans. “I thought our guys buckled down in the third.”

The Americans got solid goaltending from Sanders and scored twice in the second period to pull within 3-2.

After Sanders had a dandy save on a shot by Barzal, the Americans turned the play around and got a goal by Nolan Yaremko at 7:01.

Michael Rasmussen scored at 16:12 to make it 3-2, and Sanders kept the Thunderbirds off the board late in the game, making a highlight-reel left skate save on a shot by Scott Eansor with 1:10 left in the period.

Seconds later, as the Thunderbirds kept pounding the puck inside, Parker Wotherspoon made a save in the crease behind Sanders, and Yaremko followed with a diving stick save at the goal line.

“This team has grown so much over the course of the season,” Williamson said. “They regrouped in the second and gave themselves an opportunity to be in the game.”

The Thunderbirds got off to a hot start, scoring two goals in the first 4:14 of the game, and three in 11:08.

Cavin Leth started the parade of goals at 1:43 as his shot from the left circle ricocheted off Tri-City defender Jeff Rayman’s stick and flew over Evan Sarthou’s shoulder.

Nolan Volcan made it 2-0 at 4:14, turning a Tri-City turnover into an unassisted goal. Gropp scored his 29th of the season at 11:08 on the power play, chasing Sarthou from the net after allowing three goals on 11 shots.

The Americans picked up the pace the last 8 minutes of the period and had a couple of power plays, but came up empty.

Training room

Americans forward Austyn Playfair needs shoulder surgery and is done for the season. In 30 games, he had three goals and four assists.

On a positive note, defenseman Juuso Välimäki’s X-rays showed no damage, and Williamson expects him to be back in action within the next 10 days or so.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Americans fall to Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 in WHL battle."