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Tri-City Americans

Americans Defense Shines in 3-0 Victory over Prince George

October 22, 2006 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


KENNEWICK, WA - As the old sports adage states, "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships."

The Tri-City Americans (9-2-0-0, 18 pts) looked in championship form, as they swept the two game series with the Prince George Cougars (4-7-0-2, 10 pts), with a 3-0 win at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

Off assists from LW Erik Felde and D Tyler Schmidt, C Tanner Gillies recorded his first goal as a Tri-City American on the power play at 8:57 of the first period. It was the first of three assists on the night for Schmidt, who now has 5 assists and 8 points on the season. Tri-City once again lit the lamp at the 2:05 mark of the third period, courtesy of LW Colton Yellow Horn off assists from D Nic Knudsen and Schmidt. It was Yellow Horn's seventh of the season. Finally, off assists from C Joel Broda and Schmidt, rookie C Drew Hoff, with less than 8 minutes remaining in the contest, tallied his third goal of the season and capped the scoring for Tri-City.

The Tri-City defense, which has been overshadowed during the Americans best start in franchise history, was on display Saturday night. Goaltender Carey Price, the cornerstone of the Tri-City defense, recorded his first shutout of the season, while collecting 27 saves. Price had three shutouts during the 2005-06 season, his last coming on December 6, 2005 at Kamloops. Price is now 6-1-0-1 on the season, highlighted by a 0.931 save percentage, placing him fourth-overall in the league. Price is in the top-6 in every goaltending category, including his 2.09 goals against average (5th), his six wins (t-3rd) and his two shootout wins (t-1st).

Outside of Price, the Americans penalty killing units have been nearly unbeatable. The Americans held Prince George scoreless on the power play tonight and allowed only 1 goal in 18 opportunities in the series. In 5 games played this season, Tri-City has only allowed 3 power play goals. Only one team, Everett (2), has allowed less. As well, there are no Tri-City defensemen that have a minus rating. D Matt Swaby leads the way with a plus-9 rating.

With the win, Tri-City is now 5-0 at home for the first-time ever. Currently, only the Vancouver Giants (8-0) have a better home winning percentage than Tri-City. Additionally, Tri-City head coach Don Nachbaur collected his 298th-career victory and his 104th at the helm of the Americans. While with Tri-City, Nachbaur, a Prince George native, currently boasts a 10-3-1-0 record against the Cougars. The 0.750 winning percentage is his highest against any opponent.

Tri-City will now set their sights on the Central-division leading Medicine Hat Tigers. Game time is 5:05 PM for tomorrow's contest at the Toyota Center. You can catch all the action live on NewsTalk 870 AM, starting with the Budweiser Warm-Up Show at 4:45 PM. You can also listen live through the Americans website by visiting the Internet Radio Broadcast page under Fanzone or by visiting the individual game summary page.

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 22, 2006


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