The Tri-City Americans defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 in Western Hockey League play at the at accesso ShoWare Center on Tuesday night.
Seattle (21-27-5-1) remains in the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, three points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers (20-27-4-1). The Blazers have two games in hand.
Tri-City (29-20-2-1) took a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal from Parker AuCoin at 3:25 of the first period. Samuel Stewart had the only assist.
Seattle tied it 1-1 with 25 seconds left in the first period on the power play. Matthew Wedman sent the puck up right boards to Noah Philp. Philp crossed the puck to Andrej Kukuca in the left circle. Kukuca wired the puck past Tri-City goalie Beck Warm for his 19th goal the season.
Kukuca has seven goals in the last seven games. Wedman has eight goals and five assists in the last nine games.
The T-Birds took a 3-1 lead with two goals in 1:10 early in the second period. Wedman came off the boards and skated into the right circle and beat Warm with a hard wrist shot over the left shoulder for his 28th goal of the season. Henrik Rybinski and Tyrel Bauer had the assists on the goal that came at 4:29.
Keltie Jeri-Leon battled through two checks in the left circle and skated into the slot. Jeri-Leon beat Warm with a wrist shot through the legs at 5:29 for his eighth goal of he season. Sean Richards had the only assist on the goal.
Tri-City tied the game 3-3 with goals from Krystof Hrabik at 7:54 and Aaron Hyman on the power play at 10:02.
The Americans went in front 4-3 at 11:42 of the second on a goal from Sasha Mutala. Hrabik and Riley Sawchuk had the assists.
Seattle pulled goalie Roddy Ross with just over a minute left but were not able to get the tying goal.
Ross finished with 28 saves on 32 shots. Warm had 30 saves on 33 shots.
Up next
The T-Birds host the Portland Winterhawks at 7:35 p.m. Friday at the ShoWare Center.
Tickets are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare box office.
Fans who purchase the 24-flex ticket package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2018-19 season.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Tri-City, AuCoin 31 (Stewart), 3:25 (sh). 2, Seattle, Kukuca 19 (Philp, Wedman), 19:35. Penalties – Mutala, Tri (hooking), 1:49. Davidson, Sea (slashing), 12:21. Rybinski, Sea (roughing), 16:40. McNelly, Sea (roughing), 16:40. Huo, Tri (roughing), 16:40. Bouchard, Tri (roughing), 16:40. Sawchuk, Tri (slashing), 17:28. Yaremko, Tri (goaltender interference), 19:24.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Wedman 28 (Rybinski, Bauer), 4:29. 4, Seattle, Jeri-Leon 8 (Richards), 5:39. 5, Tri-City, Hrabik 14 (Sawchuk, Mutala), 7:54. 6, Tri-City, Hyman 10 (Yaremko, Olson), 10:02 (pp). 7, Tri-City, Mutala 13 (Hrabik, Sawchuk), 11:42. Penalties – Bauer, Sea (tripping), 8:48.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Olson, Tri (hooking), 14:54. Carpendale, Sea (hooking), 17:03.
Shots on goal – Seattle 9-14-10 33, Tri-City 12-14-6 32. Goalies – Seattle, Ross 32 shots-28 saves (8-4-0-1); Tri-City, Warm 33-30 (27-18-2-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Tri-City 1-3. A – 3,503. Referees – Trevor Beaton, Stephen Campbell. Linesmen – Trevor Beaton, Bradley Parker.
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