Welcome Back Adam Hughesman

Hiller was saying before the game (to the Vancouver radio guys) that coming back from injury he knew it would take Hughesman some time to get up to speed.  Seems it didn't take as long as Hiller thought.  Hughey had 2 goals, both on the power play (yes, the Americans actually had some power play time).  Add in goals by Rankin and Feser and you've got a 4-0 shutout of the Giants.  With the shutout, full marks to Drew Owsley who stopped all 22 shots.

Overall there were fewer shots by both teams in the game, I remember Westie saying it was tough to find room out there.  Still not sure how Owsley earned a 2-minute penalty for diving, and the official score sheet says that one penalty to Shinny wasn't diving but holding the opponent's stick.  Whatever.

So they're back at it again tonight with the Americans having the opportunity to sweep the series.  Like Spokant mentioned in the liveblog last night, does that mean it'll be an "easy" game because Vancouver essentially gives up?  Or will they be hungry, playing for pride?  Will they be frustrated if they get down early and start getting stupid?  Could be an interesting game.

"We know Vancouver has their back to the wall," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team can close out the series tonight. "The games have been close, and it's been a good series."

"We have life," said Vancouver forward Brendan Gallagher. "We're on our last life, but we have a game left and all we have to do is find a way to win a hockey game and then find a way to win the next. I could give you every cliche, but we just have to win a hockey game."

"It was fun to get my first playoff goal in my hometown," said Rankin, who hails from North Vancouver. "It was a pretty important goal. I lost myself there for a minute." (Herald)

"We didn't expect him to play full minutes on his line," said Ams associate coach Scott Beattie of Hughesman, who missed the final 12 games of the regular season and the first two of this series. "But we expected him to have an impact on the power play, and he did that. It's really good to have him back."

"We reiterated that it takes four games to win (the series)," Beattie said. "Vancouver is not going to go away. They have history. They're not going to lay down and give up. We're going to have to take it from them, and to be able to do that, we have to be at our best again tomorrow."

"Game 1 was not a good game for either team," Beattie said. "Game 2 was a little bit better for us. But tonight, we played a disciplined, composed game on the road and did exactly what we needed to do. We went out that third period with the attitude that we wouldn't be denied, and it paid off for us." (Examiner)

Buzzing the Net named Hughesman the night's 2nd star:

No. 2 star: Adam Hughesman,Tri-City Americans (WHL)
Hughesman gave Tri-City a lift in his first time out since missing 14 games with a knee injury, scoring two power-play goals to help the Americans whip the Vancouver Giants 4-0 and open a 3-0 series lead. The layoff apparent did not cost Hughesman and the other two members of Tri-City's Winnipeg line, centre Brendan Shinnimin and right wing Carter Ashton, any of their chemistry. Hughesman, 20, broke open a scoreless game with a goal 2:03 before the second intermission and got a dagger goal 8:49 into the final frame. (BTN)

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Craig West sent me the audio file from the overtime game-winning goal the other night, my awesome sister synced it up with the video she was able to get for something just fantastic, take a look:

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Huge thank you to Kathy!
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We'll be back here liveblogging the Game 4 action tonight so click on the "Read More" to join in.