The Tri-City Americans defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-1 Friday night at accesso ShoWare Center.
Tri-City went in front 1-0 on a power-play goal by Sasha Mutala at 13:09 of the first period.
The Americans took a 2-0 lead at 10:27 of the second period on a power-play goal by Samuel Huo.
Andrej Kukuca cut the Americans lead to one at 10:16 of the third period with a power-play goal. Kukuca took a pass from Simon Kubicek above the left circle. Kukuca skated to the top of the circle and snapped a puck through traffic past Tri-City goalie Beck Warm. Payton Mount had the second assist.
With 1:47 left in the third Seattle pulled goalie Roddy Ross with a faceoff in the Americans zone. The T-Birds kept the pressure on Warm and the Americans, but Mutala hit the empty net with two seconds left to seal the win.
Ross finished with 21 saves on 23 shots and Warm had 31 save 32 shots.
The T-Birds next game is Wednesday, October 2, at the Kamloops Blazers at 7pm. They return home to the accesso ShoWare Center on Saturday, October 5 to play the Victoria Royals at 6:05pm.
