VICTORIA, British Columbia — Michal Plutnar scored with three-tenths of a second remaining in overtime to help the Tri-City Americans to a 3-2 victory Friday night over the Victoria Royals.
Tied at 2 after regulation, the game looked to go to a shootout until the Czech defenseman’s shot from the blue line took a couple of hops and went between the pads of Victoria goalie Patrik Polivka.
The Americans (22-14-1-2, 47 points) pulled within two points of fourth-place Spokane in the Western Conference standings.
The Royals (19-15-1-2, 41 points), in sixth place, are six points behind Tri-City. The teams play again tonight at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The Royals opened the scoring just 1:56 into the game as Jordan Fransoo’s shot ricocheted off the boards, hit Tri-City goalie Eric Comrie and went in the net.
Brian Williams tied the score at 10:28 off an assist by Parker Bowles.
After a scoreless second, Steven Hodges gave the Royals a 2-1 lead at 4:26 of the third.
Zach Yuen evened the score at 10:38 on the power play as his shot from the left point found the net for his fourth goal of the season.
With six minutes left in regulation, Comrie had a key pad save on a shot by Hodges to keep the score even. Comrie finished with 27 saves.
