KENNEWICK, WA - You know your team is playing well when your goaltender pitches a shutout and he doesn’t crack the Applebee’s 3 Stars list.
 
Drew Owsley stopped all 25 shots he faced and the Tri-City Americans (18-5-0-0, 36 pts) got goals from five different skaters, including two from Johnny Lazo, to blank the visiting Everett Silvertips (13-7-1-0, 27 pts) 6-0 in front of 4,614 fans at the Toyota Center.  With the win, the Americans improved to 9-0 at home and have now won their last six regular season match-ups with the ‘Tips.  Meanwhile, Everett lost for the second time in their last three games.
 
There was much anticipation for the first Everett/Tri-City match-up of the season.  However, Owsley, who collected his second career shutout and first of the 2009-10 campaign, held off the ‘Tips’ attack which was averaging 3.2 goals/game on the road coming into Kennewick.  Meanwhile, his offense gave him all the support he needed.
 
Just 5:10 into the contest and on the power play, Brett Plouffe got the scoring started with a drive from the mid-point that found its way through the pads of Thomas Heemskerk.  Just 2:06 later, Adam Hughesman fired a shot from the left circle that was redirected by Lazo, giving the Americans a quick 2-0 lead.
 
But, Tri-City was just getting warmed up.  Just past the halfway point of the period, Brendan Shinnimin found Hughesman in the high slot, who then beat Heemskerk high with a wrist shot.  Then, with 2:53 remaining in the period, Neal Prokop tipped in a Tyler Schmidt shot, making it 4-0 Tri-City after the first period of play.
 
In the second period, Tri-City continued to take the fight to the ‘Tips offensively and would get rewarded twice in a six-minute span.  At the 7:05 mark, Lazo connected for his second goal of the night, bumping his season total to 10.
 
However, the Play of the Week nominee came with 6:31 remaining in the period.  After corralling a loose puck and from behind the Tri-City net, newly re-acquired Eric Mestery began to take the puck up ice before he launched an 80 ft. up-ice pass to a hustling Justin Feser.  Feser, who had been camped on the Everett blue line, took the pass in stride and walked in all alone on Heemskerk.
 
Despite a six-goal lead, the two teams battled hard over the final 20 minutes.  The Americans would limit the ‘Tips to just five shots on goal in the third period, however, and seal the victory.  Heemskerk, who was 6-0-1-0 in his last sevens starts, suffered his worst loss of the season while collecting 33 saves in defeat.  Tri-City ended the night 1-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

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