VANCOUVER, BC - It was a shootout that didn't go to a shootout. Seattle jumped out to a 4-0 lead and fought off the Giants comeback attempt twice to preserve a 6-4 victory in front of 6,839 fans at the Pacific Coliseum Friday night.
For the 7th time in 8 games, the Giants surrendered the first goal of the game. Seth Swenson caught them on a bad change, held and shot on a 2 on 1 off the right wing to open the scoring at 8:19. After a flurry of pressure by the Giants in the offensive zone didn't result in the equalizer they were looking for, the Thunderbirds wrapped up the period with a pair of goals in the final 90 seconds; Brendan Rouse banged home a rebound off the rush at 18:34 to make it 2-0, and then Tyler Alos was able to deke out Fuhr in tight to increase the lead to 3-0 with just 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
Just less than 2 minutes into the 2nd period, Seattle increased the lead to 4-0 off a turnover in the Giants zone. The Giants didn't give up and were able to muster up what looked like a promising comeback when Marek Tvrdon buried his first of the season off a great set-up from Cheek, and then Cain Franson made an individual play 4 minutes later to cut the deficit to 4-2 at 8:33 of the second. However the Thunderbirds were able to restore their 4 goal lead off a pair of power play goals from Brendan Rouse (2nd of the game), which chased Tyler Fuhr from the crease (5 goals on 14 shots) and then Luke Lockhart, who beat Liam Liston on an open net tap-in. However, the Giants were able to restore a little bit of life in the last minute, when David Musil slapped one past Brandon Glover with 35 seconds left to cut the deficit to 6-3 headed into the 3rd.
The Giants took advantage of their only power play of the game at 10:40 of the 3rd, when Cain Franson banged home his 2nd of the game on a rebound to get Vancouver back to within 2, but that's as close as the home team would come.
The Giants outshot the Thunderbirds 32-21 on the night, including 10-4 in the 3rd, but Brandon Glover came up big when he needed to be, finishing the night with 28 saves. Liam Liston made 6 saves on 7 shots in relief of Fuhr.
Special teams played a big factor. While the Giants scored on their only power play (coming halfway through the 3rd period), it was too late. Seattle was able to get 6 power play opportunities of their own, capitalizing twice.
Tonight's Dickie's Hardest Working Player for the Giants was Nathan Burns
This result moves the Giants to 2-6-0-0 on the young season, while the Thunderbirds move above .500 with a record of 4-3-0-0.
The Giants will now head straight to Ladner and hop on a bus to Spokane late this evening, where they will take on the Chiefs in a rematch tomorrow. Vancouver won the opening game of the series 3-2, which was their first win of the season, back on Sep. 30.
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Feser scored two goals and Eric Comrie stopped all 24 shots he faced to lead the Tri-City Americans (6-3-0-1, 13 pts) to a commanding 5-0 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors (4-4-0-1, 9 pts) in Saskatchewan.
The Americans have now won four straight on the road, and are 5-0-0-1 in their last six games. Tri-City has been road warriors this season, only losing one game on the road at Spokane. The 5-0 victory is the largest margin of victory this season, and ties for the most goals they have scored in a game this season.
The Americans struck first as Justin Feser netted his sixth goal of the season off of a Zachary Yuen rebound on the power play. Clint Filbrandt would score his first goal of the season on a Moose Jaw turnover late in the first period to give Tri-City a 2-0 lead after one period.
The Americans would pour it on in the second period. Feser would add his second goal of the game early in the period, putting it between the legs of Daniel Wapple to make it 3-0. Lucas Nickles would add to the Americans lead by scoring on a breakaway, making it 4-0 Americans. Connor Rankin would make it 5-0 with 11:02 left in the period, putting home a Philip Tot pass for his third goal of the season.
Tri-City cruised to the victory in the third period. Moose Jaw had three power play chances, but only had six shots in the period as Comrie cruised to his second shutout this season.
This was the seventh straight victory for the Americans over the Warriors, including their fifth straight win in Moose Jaw. Tri-City has outscored Moose Jaw 34-9 during the streak.
Comrie now has five shutouts in his career, tying him for fifth on the Americans all-time shutout list with Ty Rimmer and Lance Leslie. Comrie recorded his 25th victory, tying him for 10th on the Americans all-time list.
Wapple and Justin Paulic had 17 combined saves for the Warriors in the loss. Jordan Messier recorded no points and a minus one rating against his former team.
Tri-City will look to extend their road winning streak to five games when they take on the Prince Albert Raiders (7-2-0-1, 15 pts) on Tuesday in the Art Hauser Centre. Game time is at 6:00 p.m. Prince Albert will come into the game with the most points in the Eastern Conference. The Americans defeated Prince Albert 2-1 last season at the Toyota Center, but the Raiders won the last time the two teams met in Saskatchewan 5-2. NewsTalk 870 will broadcast the game with the pregame show beginning at 5:45 p.m. WHL Live will stream the game live online starting at 6:00 p.m.
Jack in the Box Three Stars:
1. Eric Comrie, Tri-City
2. Justin Feser, Tri-City
3. Zachary Yuen, Tri-City
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KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City Americans Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the team has traded 19-year-old Sam Grist to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a 3rd round pick in the 2013 Bantam Draft and a 5th round pick in the 2014 Draft.
After a whirlwind of moves, today's trades brings Tri-City's roster down to the WHL-mandated three overage player limit and includes forwards Justin Feser and Jesse Mychan and defenseman Drydn Dow. The Americans' roster now sits at 24 players, including 14 forwards, 8 defenseman and 2 goaltenders.
Grist, a 6'4 200-pound defenseman from N. Saanich, British Columbia, was originally listed by Tri-City in April of 2010 before joining the club full time at the start of the 2010-11 season. Since then, Grist has gone on to appear in 119 WHL games, while totaling 3 goals, 15 points, 207 penalty minutes and a career plus-17 rating. Prior to posting a season full of personal bests in 2011-12, Grist received a free agent invite to the Philadelphia Flyers' training camp in 2011.
"With the emergence of some of our younger defensemen like (Wil) Tomchuk and (Brodie) Clowes, who is close to returning to practice, we had to get our numbers down on defense," explained Tory. "This move allows Sam to play on a good team, closer to home, while opening some ice time for our other players."
Tory continued by saying that "Sam has been a great teammate and will be missed. We wish him all the best in Kamloops."
The Americans kick-off an 8-game road trip this week, as they make the long trek to Manitoba for a match-up with the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday, October 13. Game time is 5:30 p.m. (PST) at Westman Place. Fans can catch all the action live, via WHL Live, at the Americans' home away from home, Kimo's Sports Restaurant, in Richland. The game will also air live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Sterling Bank Warm-up Show at 5:15 p.m. (PST).
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Lipon helped the Blazers pick up a pair of victories beginning Friday night when he scored once and added three assists as second star of a 7-2 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds. On Saturday night he scored twice with one assist and was named first star of a 4-1 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers giving the Blazers their fifth win in six games so far this season.
Lipon, a 19-year-old from Regina, SK, is playing in his fourth full WHL season with the Blazers. He currently sits fourth in league scoring with 12 points in six games after producing 65 points in 69 games last season.
Also considered for the award this week was Josh Leivo of the Sudbury Wolves who scored six goals in three games, and William Carrier of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles who scored four goals and four assists for eight points in four games.
2012-13 CHL Players of the Week:
Oct. 1 - Oct. 7: JC Lipon, Kamloops Blazers
Sept. 24 - Sept. 30: Jean-Sébastien Dea, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Sept. 20 - Sept. 23: Jonathan Drouin, Halifax Mooseheads
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Corbin appeared in 118 games with the Raiders, scoring 20 goals and adding 32 assists for 52 points, after being acquired from the Kelowna Rockets via trade in 2010. Last season, Corbin led the Raiders defence in goals, with 12, and amassed 112 penalty minutes. The 6'3" blue liner scored in each of his two games with the Raiders this season.
"I am very excited for this opportunity for me to play professional hockey and return to my roots in Eastern Canada," said Antoine Corbin. "I want to thank the entire Prince Albert Raider organization for their support in helping me to develop over the last two years there. The coaches, my billets Carole and Stacey, the players and especially the fans who were so supportive last year during a difficult season. I am so glad the boys are off to a tremendous start and hope they keep it up and have a great season."
"We are proud to have moved Antoine on to the AHL, and also of his development with our organization," said Raiders General Manager Bruno Campese. "We wish him success in his professional career"
Raiders season tickets are on sale now, with plenty of great seats still available for the 2012-2013 season. Call 764-GAME (4263) or stop by the Raider office in the Art Hauser Centre for more information.
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McAndrews is currently playing with Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
"The Tigers appreciate the time and effort Devon has put into his game since being put on our protected list," stated Tigers' gm/head coach Shaun Clouston. "We wish Devon all the best in his future hockey endeavours."
The Tigers will embark on a three game road trip into the BC division beginning on Wednesday in Victoria before heading to Vancouver on Friday and rounding out the trip in Kamloops on Friday.
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