Doug Love

Americans remain perfect on home ice; down Rockets 4-3 in OT

Kennewick, Wa. The Tri-City Americans (10-4-2-0, 22pts.) and the Kelowna Rockets (7-5-2-1, 17pts.) have become very familiar with each other recently. The two teams have matched up against each other three times in the past fifteen days. The home team won the first two meetings with Tri-City winning 2-1 October 17th in Kennewick and Kelowna winning 4-3 in overtime on October 27th in Kelowna. That familiarity, and two teams that match up really well with each other, meant we would probably see another close match. And it was. Tri-City skated away with the 4-3 overtime victory on home ice.

Turnovers and special teams. That was the story of the first period. When two teams match up well, it’s whoever can take advantage of those things that will win. Early on, it was Kelowna. Rockets’ forward Kole Lind got Kelowna on the board first after an ugly turnover at the Americans blue line was forced by defenseman Gordie Ballhorn. Ballhorn fed the puck to Lind who skated in on Americans’ goalie Patrick Dea and sniped a shot 5-hole. It wouldn’t take long for Tri-City to respond, however. Kelowna took a lot of bad penalties in the opening frame giving Tri-City ample chances. On their second man-advantage, Tri-City evened it up on a breakaway for forward Kyle Olson. Dea got the second assist on the goal as his handling of the puck by the Americans’ net led to the long rush. Another lapse of discipline for the Rockets later in the period would lead to the Americans having a 5-on-3 advantage. Morgan Geekie took advantage of the extra space on the ice to skate in and go top shelf on Kelowna goalie James Porter. 2-1 Americans after one.

The second period remained tight with both teams trading chances throughout. The Americans were able to extend their lead to two after a Juuso Vålimåki wrist shot from the right circle made its way through traffic and past a screened Porter. Kelowna, however, once again got to within one on a mid-period power play goal. Rockets forward Nolan Foote took a great feed and had plenty of time in front of Dea to bang it home. The Americans again skated into the intermission with only a one goal lead.

The third period would be a battle to see who would break first. Both teams had their fair share of chances, with Tri-City getting the bulk early in the period. Porter stood strong for Kelowna shutting down all the quality scoring chances he faced. Kelowna began to buzz midway through the period. The Rockets may not have the same scoring talent they have been stacked with in the past, but one thing they still continue to do well is skate. Their ability to skate hard was rewarded shortly after the final media timeout. Left Winger Jack Cowell was the recipient of some great passing in the Americans’ end, once again after a Tri-City turnover, that ended up in the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season. That was the extent of the third period scoring. The game headed to overtime knotted at three.

Five nights ago, it was Kelowna who skated away with the overtime victory over the Americans in Kelowna. After a very slow, conservative start by both teams in the extra frame, the Americans took advantage of their first and only chance in overtime. Americans defenseman Juuso Välimäki carried the puck into the zone and skated straight for the Kelowna net.

He made a great pass to his left to find center Michael Rasmussen who buried the wrist shot for the overtime winner.

Dea made 38 saves in the win for Tri-City, while Porter made 28 saves in the loss for Kelowna.

The Americans went 2-for-5 on the man advantage while Kelowna was 1-for-4.

Tri-City extends it’s point streak to 9 games (7-0-2-0) and remains perfect at home this season (6-0-0-0).

The Americans will hit the road for a three game trip against fellow U.S. Division opponents over the next 10 days, including the first meeting with the Portland Winterhawks this season, on November 11th. Kelowna will play back-to-back games this weekend against the league-leading Victoria Royals before heading home.