Coghlan’s OT goal sends Americans past Spokane
Dylan Coghlan scored 1:14 into overtime Saturday night to rally the Tri-City Americans to a 5-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs before a crowd of 5,022 at the Toyota Center.
It was one of two goals on the night for Coghlan, who also scored the Americans’ first of the game, 2:43 into the second period. He also had an assist.
The Americans (24-16-7-0, 55 points) are fifth in the U.S. Division standings, one point back of Spokane (26-19-2-2) and three behind third-place Seattle, which is at the Toyota Center on Sunday.
Tri-City is 4-3 against Spokane this season, with all three losses coming in overtime. Of the seven games, six have been decided by one goal.
Coghlan originally was credited with the game-tying goal with one minute left in the third period, but video review showed that Michael Rasmussen directed the puck into the net.
Rasmussen, playing his first game since Dec. 16, also scored at 10:26 of the third to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 4-2. Riley Sawchuk followed 3 1/2 minutes later to make it 4-3.
With time running out in regulation, the Americans pulled goaltender Patrick Dea for an extra attacker, and Rasmussen scored to send the game into overtime.
Jordan Topping and Morgan Geekie assisted on Coghlan’s game-winning goal. Topping finished the night with three assists, while Isaac Johnson had two.
Coghlan is the first Americans defenseman with two overtime game-winning goals since Clayton Stoner during the 2004-05 season.
Dea finished with 33 saves while Dawson Weatherill had 26 for Spokane.
Former Tri-City coach Don Hay moves to the top
Former Tri-City coach Don Hay moved to the top of the WHL’s regular-season coaching list on Saturday after Kamloops beat visiting Portland 4-2. Hay now has 743 regular-season coaching victories, split between the Blazers (275), Vancouver Giants (401) and Americans (67).
Hay coached the Americans for two seasons —1998-2000 — with a record of 67-62 with 13 ties and two overtime losses.
Hay tied longtime Portland coach Ken Hodge’s record on Friday when the Blazers beat the Winterhawks 5-2.
Americans 5, Chiefs 4 (OT)
Spokane | 1 | 3 | 0 0 | — | 4 |
Tri-City | 0 | 3 | 1 1 | — | 5 |
First — 1, Spo, Anderson-Dolan 25 (Kral), 5:37. Penalty — Johnson, TC (slashing), :27.
Second — 2, Spo, McIndoe 15 (Yamamoto), 1:15. 3, TC, Coghlan 14 (Rasmussen, Topping), 2:43 (pp). 4, Spo, Smith 7 (Anderson-Dolan, Kral), 3:46. 5, Fischer 22 (Woods, Elynuik), 4:39. 6, TC, Rasmussen 17 (Yaremko, Johnson), 10:26. 7, TC, Sawchuk 6 (Johnson, James), 14:11. Penalties — Fafrak, Spo (tripping), 1:54; Bjorklund, TC (holding), 6:13; McKay, Spo (roughing), 16:02; Belcourt, TC (roughing), 16:02
Third — 8, TC, Rasmussen 18 (Coghlan, Topping), 19:00. Penalties — None.
Overtime — 9, TC, Coghlan 15 (Topping, Geekie), 1:14. Penalties — None.
Shots — Spo 8-15-13-1 — 37. TC 8-8-12-3 — 31. Power plays — Spo 0-2. TC 1-1. Goalies — Spo, Weatherill 14-9-2-2 (31 shots-26 saves). TC, Dea 12-9-6-0 (36-32). Referees — Jeff Ingram and Derek Zalaski. A — 5,022.
Annie Fowler: 509-582-1574, @TCHIceQueen
This story was originally published January 28, 2018 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Coghlan’s OT goal sends Americans past Spokane."