Messier, Tot Score Twice as Tri-City Defeats Regina 6-3

Regina, SK- Every time Regina thought they were back in the game, Tri-City had an answer.

Marcus Messier and Philip Tot each had two goals en route to the Tri-City Americans (8-3-1-1, 18 pts) defeating the Regina Pats (5-6-1-0, 11 pts) 6-3 in the Brandt Centre.

Tri-City would score first as Zachary Yuen passed it across to Marcus Messier, slapping it into the net and giving the Americans an early 1-0 lead. But with less than 30 seconds left in the period, good passing from the Pats led to Dyson Stevenson scoring on the power play to tie the game. The lead didn’t last long, as Messier scored his second goal of the period on a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle with eight seconds left to make it 2-1 Americans after one period.

Regina would tie the game in the second period. Justin Feser turned the puck over in his own zone, and Trent Ouellette shot one over the glove of Eric Comrie to tie the game. It didn’t take long for the Americans to regain the lead, as Malte Strömwall took the puck to the net and slipped it under Matt Hewitt to make it 3-2. The game would be tied once again when Jack Rodewald deflected a shot into the back of the net to make it 3-3.

The Americans would retake the lead late in the period when Philip Tot scored his first goal of the season by putting home a loose puck in front of the net to make it 4-3 after two periods.

The third period was relatively scoreless, with Regina applying a lot of pressure to try to tie the game up. Tri-City outshot Regina 15-7, but Regina had two good chances in the period on two Jesse Mychan power plays, but couldn’t convert. They pulled the goalie with a little over a minute left, and the Americans sealed the game as Justin Feser scored his second empty net goal of the season. And just for good measure, Tot scored his second goal of the game by putting it into an empty net, securing the 6-3 win.

The win makes Tri-City 4-0-1-0 on the Eastern Canada road trip and 7-0-1-1 in their last nine games. The Americans have now won three straight against Regina, and are now 9-9 on the road at Regina. Tri-City held the Pats to four shots in the second period, which ties a season low for shots allowed by the Americans in a period.

With two goals, Tot now has 25 goals for his WHL career. Four Americans had double digit points, including Feser scoring a goal and assist as well as Zachary Yuen recording two assists.

Comrie made 21 saves in the win, while Hewitt made 36 saves in the loss.

Tri-City has one more game before it heads back to the states as they take on the Swift Current Broncos (5-3-3-1, 14 pts) at the Credit Union i-plex. Tri-City won the previous meeting last season 5-1 in Kennewick, but lost the last meeting at Swift Current 2-1. NewsTalk 870 will broadcast the game beginning at 5:45 p.m. with the pregame show. WHL Live will stream the game beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Jack in the Box Three Stars:
1. Marcus Messier, Tri-City
2. Matt Hewitt, Regina
3. Justin Feser, Tri-City