Tri-City drops game to Kelowna, but nabs playoff spot
Dillon Dube scored two goals to rally the Kelowna Rockets to a 4-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans on Saturday at Prospera Place.
Despite the loss, there was a silver lining for the Americans, who secured a playoff spot when Victoria beat Spokane in overtime. The Chiefs trail Tri-City by 17 points with eight games to play.
The Americans (38-25-3-0, 79 points), who have lost two in a row after winning seven consecutive games, are third in the U.S. Division behind leader Everett (89 points) and Seattle (88 points). Portland is five points back of Tri-City as the regular season heads into the final two weeks of play.
Kelowna (40-21-5-0, 85 points) are second in the B.C. Division, two points back of Prince George and three in front of Kamloops.
Tri-City jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period with goals by Jordan Topping and Brett Leason, and had a 2-1 lead after two periods.
Kelowna would score three unanswered goals in the third period for their fourth win in a row.
It was the first time the Americans had lost a game when leading after two periods. They now are 30-1 when leading after 40 minutes.
Evan Sarthou finished with 39 saves for Tri-City, including 21 in the first period. Juuso Välimäki handed out two assists.
Tri-City begins a four-game homestand Friday, hosting B.C. Division-leading Prince George.
Rockets 4, Americans 2
Tri-City | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 |
Kelowna | 0 | 1 | 3 | — | 4 |
First — 1, TC, Topping 24 (Geekie, Välimäki), 13:08. 2, TC, Leason 8 (Yaremko, Välimäki), 17:55. Penalties — Olson, TC (holding), 2:22; Wotherspoon, TC (cross-checking), 10:34.
Second — 3, Kel, Dube 14 (Twarynski, C.Foote), 19:54. Penalties — Stephens, Kel (tripping), 14:40.
Third — 4, Kel, Gardiner 14 (Dube, Lind), 4:06 (pp). 5, Kel, N.Foote 16 (Topping, C.Foote), 5:06. 6, Kel, Dube 15 (Merkley), 19:48 (en). Penalties — Gardiner, Kel (slashing), :45; Coghlan, TC (slashing), 3:17; Välimäki, TC (high-sticking), 5:19; Gardiner, Kel (slashing), 6:10.
Shots — TC 9-8-7 —24. Kel 21-16-6 — 43. Power plays — TC 0-3. Kel 1-4. Goalies — TC, Sarthou 10-7-2-0 (42 shots-39 saves). Salmond (9-7), Herringer 29-14-3-0 (20:00 of 2nd, 15-15). Referees — Chris Crich and Steve Papp. A — 5,521.
This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Tri-City drops game to Kelowna, but nabs playoff spot."