Americans Demolish Giants to Earn Third Straight Win

Kennewick, WA- Three games, three wins.

The Tri-City Americans (12-6-1-1, 26 pts) closed out three games in three nights with an emphatic 9-1 win over the Vancouver Giants (5-12-0-0, 10 pts) in front of 3,777 at the Toyota Center.

The Americans came out of the gates strong, creating chances and only allowing one Vancouver shot in the first 10 minutes of the first period. And the Ams got on the board midway through the first with Malte Strömwall passing it through the crease to Justin Feser for a one-timer into the net. The Americans would add another three minutes later when Marcus Messier fired a shot over the right shoulder of Vancouver goalie Peyton Lee to make it 2-0 Tri-City. The Americans dominated the period, outshooting the Giants 13-2.

The onslaught would get worse for the Giants in the second period, as Brian Williams fed it to Feser in front of the goal, putting it home for his second goal of the game. It wasn’t long before Tri-City scored again, as Beau McCue fired a wrist shot into the goal to make it 4-0. The Americans would need three minutes to earn their fifth goal of the game, as tic-tac-toe passing allowed Williams to easily score on the power play to make it 5-0. And 10 seconds later, Plutnar would add his first goal of the season to increase the lead to 6-0. But they weren’t done in the period, as Marcus Messier scored his second goal of the game to increase the lead to 7-0. Vancouver had a good chance 13:41 into the second to get on the board when Taylor Cheek earned a penalty shot, but hit the post to keep the Giants scoreless.  

In the third period, Justin Feser earned the first hat trick of the season for the Americans by scoring early in the period to increase the lead to eight.

But the shutout was not meant to be, as Cheek redeemed himself for his penalty shot miss by scoring on a breakaway to make it 8-1. Eight goals weren’t enough for the Americans, as Williams scored his second goal of the game on a 5-on-3 power play to go up by eight again and cruise to the win.

Tri-City has scored at least eight goals against the Giants in five of the last six seasons. The most scored was 11 last season, and only failed to score at least eight in 2008-09.

With four points tonight, Feser is one point shy of tying Bill Lindsay for 10th on the Americans all-time points list and is now alone in 12th place on the all-time assists list. The trio of Feser, Williams and Strömwall had a point in each game during the three game stretch and combined for 11 goals and seven assists.

Brenden Fiebelkorn got his first start of the season and made 14 saves in the win while Payton Lee and Tyler Fuhr combined for 29 saves in the loss.

Tri-City will have a couple of days to rest and get ready for their next game on Friday, November 9 when the Everett Silvertips (6-11-0-2, 14 pts) return to the Toyota Center. Game time is at 7:05 p.m. The Americans have won all four meetings against the Silvertips this season, defeating them most recently 3-2 in Kennewick on November 2. NewsTalk 870 will broadcast the game beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show. WHL Live will stream the game online. Tickets are still available through the Toyota Center box office, any Fred Meyer outlet, at any Ticketmaster location, or online at Ticketmaster.com.

Jack in the Box Three Stars:
1. Justin Feser, Tri-City
2. Marcus Messier, Tri-City
3. Beau McCue, Tri-City