Lotz Outduels Comrie, Everett Edges Tri-City in Shootout

Kennewick, WA- Toyota Center fans were treated to a goaltender battle on Tuesday night.

The 4,071 in attendance leave without joy until after Christmas, as Joshua Winquist scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Everett Silvertips (13-20-0-2, 28 pts) past the Tri-City Americans (18-12-1-2, 39 pts) 2-1 in a shootout.

Tri-City has lost two straight to Everett and three in a row at the Toyota Center. Everett has won two in a row.

The goalie’s dueled to see which one could win the game for their team, and Austin Lotz came out on top. Lotz made 45 saves in the win, while Eric Comrie played well, but didn’t get the win as he made 29 saves in a losing effort.

Tri-City came out strong in the first period, playing physical and controlling the puck well. They finally broke through the Everett defense as Mitch Topping fed the puck across to Justin Feser, slapping a one-timer into the net on the power play for a 1-0 lead. The Americans had more opportunities throughout the period and outshot the Silvertips 16-8, including two power play chances. Comrie made some great saves in the period to give the Ams a one goal lead after one period.

Everett played better in the second period, but Tri-City still looked like the better team. Everett had a great chance in the period when they had a 5-on-3 power play for a little less than two minutes, but Comrie was in the zone during the second period and did not let anything by, stopping everything from one-timers to backdoor shots in the period. Tri-City had some chances, with Feser getting denied on a shorthanded opportunity and McCue ringing a shot off the post with less than a minute in the period. Everett outshot Tri-City 12-10 in the period, but it was the Americans that had a one goal lead heading into the third period.

Comrie continued to be a force in net, stopping all the shots he faced for the first half of the third. Everett finally broke through Comrie midway through the third as Carson Stadnyk scored by putting home a rebound to tie the game at one. Both teams had some chances to take the lead down the stretch, as Lotz made an incredible save on Ryan Chynoweth with less than a minute to play. Tri-City outshot Everett 16-7 but neither team could score on any of their chances as the game would head into overtime.

Overtime was a back-and forth affair, as each team had chances to end the game. Both teams had three shots in the overtime, but neither team could score as the game would go to a shootout.

Winquist was the first shooter of the shootout and beat Comrie by slowing down and getting Comrie to go down, allowing Winquist to beat him high. Feser, Brian Williams and Connor Rankin were denied by Lotz helping Everett held on for the victory.

Feser tied legend Stu Barnes for 8th on the Americans all-time points list with his goal tonight.  

Tri-City has a few days off before they go on the road for their final two games before the break, starting by going north on U.S. Highway 395 to take on the Spokane Chiefs (22-8-1-0, 45 pts) at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Game time is at 7:05 p.m. Spokane has won four of the five meetings this season, including both games in Spokane. NewsTalk 870 will broadcast the game beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show. MeTV 42.2 will broadcast the game on television, with the broadcast starting at 7:00 p.m.

Jack in the Box Three Stars:
1. Austin Lotz, Everett
2. Eric Comrie, Tri-City
3. Joshua Winquist, Everett