Rasmussen nets game winner in OT for Americans
Michael Rasmussen scored 2:19 into overtime to help the Tri-City Americans to a 4-3 victory Wednesday over the Kelowna Rockets at Toyota Center.
The victory kept the Americans perfect on home ice (6-0), with two of the wins coming against the Rockets.
Tri-City (10-4-2-0, 22 points) leads the U.S. Division, two points ahead of Portland, while Kelowna (7-5-2-1, 17) is second in the B.C. Division behind Victoria.
The Americans, who received honorable mention points in this week’s CHL poll, led 2-1 after the first period with goals by Kyle Olson and Morgan Geekie.
Juuso Välimäki scored in the second for a 3-1 lead, only to see the Rockets come back to tie the score at 3-3 with 4:56 remaining in regulation with a goal by Jack Cowell.
Patrick Dea finished with 29 saves for the Americans, while James Porter had 37 saves for the Rockets.
The Americans hit the road for their next three games, starting Saturday in Spokane.
Americans 4, Rockets 3 (OT)
Kelowna | 1 | 1 | 1 0 | — | 3 |
Tri-City | 2 | 1 | 0 1 | — | 4 |
First — 1, Kel, Lind 9 (Ballhorn, Hilsendager), 3:12. 2, TC, Olson 2 (Välimäki, Dea), 5:41 (pp). 3, TC, Geekie 5 (Rasmussen, Coghlan), 16:57 (pp). Penalties — Chizen, Kel (holding), 1:06; Dube, Kel (hooking), 5:26; Hilsendager, Kel, minor-major (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 7:18; Topping, TC, major (fighting), 7:18; Krebs, TC (hooking), 13:21; Lind, Kel (cross-checking), 15:36; C.Foote, Kel (high-sticking), 16:49; Clayton, TC (roughing), 19:53.
Second — 4, TC, Välimäki 3 (Johnson, Topping), 5:52. 5, Kel, N.Foote 4 (Lind, Dube), 10:26 (pp). Penalties — Topping, TC (high-sticking), 6:54; Johnson, TC (cross-checking), 9:26.
Third — 6, Kel, Cowell 5 (Ballhorn, Bruggen-Cate), 14:06. Penalties — None.
Overtime — 7, TC, Rasmussen 7, 2:19. Penalties — None.
Shots — Kel 5-12-14-1 — 32. TC 9-13-16-3 — 41. Power plays — Kel 1-4. TC 2-5. Goalies — Kel, Porter 4-2-2-0 (41 shots-37 saves). TC, Dea 5-2-2-0 (32-29). Referees — Bryan Bourdon and Duncan Brow. A — 2,498.
This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Rasmussen nets game winner in OT for Americans."