A banner Dea for Tri-City Americans in series opener against Kelowna
Patrick Dea turned aside 39 shots, and Morgan Geekie and Michael Rasmussen each scored two goals as the Tri-City Americans shut out the Kelowna Rockets 5-0 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Thursday at Prospera Place.
The win ended a 15-game skid by Tri-City in Kelowna. Game 2 of the series will be Saturday. The series will shift to Toyota Center for Games 3 and 4 on March 28-29.
“I thought we played solid,” Americans coach Mike Williamson said. “Nothing extraordinary. We had a good presence at the net all night. That’s what we have to do to be successful. We had good goaltending, which you need this time of year. It’s just one game. Kelowna has a good hockey team.”
Dea earned a shutout in his first WHL playoff start, and it was the first shutout playoff shutout by the Americans since March 27, 2012 — a 4-0 victory over Everett with Ty Rimmer in net.
“He played really well,” Williamson said. “I thought our guys did a really good job of clearing second and third chances, and Patty made some big stops when they could have grabbed some momentum. From Patty out, we were solid tonight.”
Dea, in his second career playoff game, was under siege in the first, but he calmly turned aside all 19 shots by the Rockets.
Geekie got the party started with a goal at 15:22 of the first period off an assist by Rasmussen.
23 seconds is all it takes! @DetroitRedWings prospect @mrasmussen16 makes it 4-0 @TCAmericans! #KELvsTC #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/wf9AVZYrOY
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 23, 2018
Isaac Johnson would double the lead at 5:11 of the second. Nolan Yaremko won a face-off against Kelowna’s Kyle Topping, and the puck found Johnson at the top of the circle.
Johnson skated to his left and his shot from the point found the net for his first career playoff goal.
The Americans were the beneficiary of a 5-minute power-play with 11 seconds left in the second period as Kelowna’s Dillon Dube was whistled for a charging major when he took out Dea in the crease.
Dube collides hard with Dea. They were both slow to get up and Dube was given 5 min for charging and a game misconduct. pic.twitter.com/Zj4GZYKXDt
— Brandon Rivers (@hodgesheroes) March 23, 2018
Video replay showed Dube getting pushed by Tri-City defenseman Jake Bean, but Dube was done for the night after also picking up a game misconduct.
The Americans would score twice on the Dube penalty, and another on a high-sticking penalty by Marek Skvrne.
He's got two! @NHLCanes prospect @M_14Geekie makes it 3-0 for the @TCAmericans! #WHLPlayoffs #KELvsTC pic.twitter.com/gBox6DSx24
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 23, 2018
Geekie scored his second of the night at 3:38, and Rasmussen followed 23 seconds later for a 4-0 lead. At the 6-minute mark, Rasmussen scored again for a 5-0 Tri-City lead.
“It was a major penalty,” Williamson said. “Our goalie got ran over. There was a bit of pressure on their guy, but he didn’t try to get out of the way. We are lucky Patrick wasn’t hurt.”
Americans 5, Rockets 0
Tri-City | 1 | 1 | 3 | — | 5 |
Kelowna | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
First — 1, TC, Geekie 1 (Rasmussen, Coghlan), 15:22. Penalties — Bishop, TC (slashing), 9:17.
Second — 2, TC, Johnson 1 (Yaremko), 5:11. Penalties —Hilsendager, Kel (high-sticking), 10:14; James, TC (interference), 12:30; Gatenby, TC (hooking), 15:37; Gatenby, TC (delay of game), 19:10; Dube, Kel, major (charging, game misconduct), 19:49.
Third — 3, TC, Geekie 2 (Välimäki, Bean), 3:38 (pp). 4, TC, Rasmussen 1 (J.Topping, Geekie), 4:01 (pp). 5, TC, Rasmussen 2 (Coghlan, Välimäki), 6:00 (pp). Penalties — Skvrne, Kel (high-sticking), 5:02; Sawchuk, TC (roughing), 10:02; N.Foote, Kel (high-sticking), 10:02.
Shots — TC 9-11-12 — 32. Kel 19-11-0 — 39. Power plays — TC 3-3. Kel 0-4. Goalies — TC, Dea 1-0 (39 shots-39 saves). Kel, Porter 0-1 (32-27). Referees — Jeff Ingram and Steve Papp. A — 5,168.
Tri-City 1, Kelowna 0
Game 1: March 22, Tri-City 5, Kelowna 0
Game 2: March 24 at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Game 3: March 28 at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Game 4: March 29 at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
*Game 5: March 31 at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
*Game 6: April 1 at Tri-City, 5:05 p.m.
*Game 7: April 3 at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
*If necessary
This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 10:22 PM with the headline "A banner Dea for Tri-City Americans in series opener against Kelowna."