The Tri-City Americans were swept this weekend in Kamloops. Falling tonight 5-2 to the Kamloops Blazers. The Kamloops Blazers scored five straight unanswered goals to take the win, four goals coming in the third period alone.
The first period was relatively quiet, other than Jake Sloan tipping the puck at center ice and dashing in on a one-on-one opportunity. However, Dylan Ernst’s blocker turned aside Sloan’s backhand effort.
As the period winded down, Jackson Smith fired a shot from the right wing through traffic that went off the post for a near buzzer-beater. Shots through one whole period of play were 7-6 in favor of the Kamloops Blazers.
The second period is where the pinball dropped, and the scoring began. Parker Bell got his first of two on the night after working the puck out front and going backhand five minutes into the second period to give Tri-City a 1-0 lead.
Parker Bell would get his second goal of the contest three minutes after his first goal. This time on an excellent tic-tac-toe play. Jordan Gavin would find Deagan McMillan waiting at the right wing. McMillan would launch a one-timer where the puck would deflect off Parker Bell and in. Dylan Ernst laid out helpless, and the Americans had extended their lead to 2-0.
This is where the ship began to crash and burn for the Americans. Kamloops would go on to score five straight unanswered goals in the contest. The first was on the powerplay after Emmitt Finnie found Logan Bairos at the high slot for a one-time blast halfway through the period.
The Americans would attempt to gain the lead again with just three minutes left in the period. Jordan Gavin deked through two defenders and walked towards the net but was turned aside by Dylan Ernst’s stick to keep the game tied going into the second intermission.
Kamloops would send Tri-City to pound town in the third period, scoring four goals in the period. The first came off Dylan Sedor’s stick 2:47 into the period on the powerplay. Dylan Sedor grabbed a rebound off his own shot and tucked it around Matecha’s pad to tie the game up at two aside.
Five minutes into the third period, Cash Koch and Harrison Brunicke would decide to have a tilt down in the Kamloops end after some bickering post-whistle. Both would land some nice punches, but Koch would eventually land two nasty left-handers that would drop Brunicke.
Dylan Sedor got his second goal of the night after burying one home in front of the net. Matecha had thought he covered the puck up but was all wrong. An innocent play turned deadly, giving Kamloops a 3-2 lead.
Ashton Ferster would secure the win for Kamloops with just under a minute left. Parker Bell fumbled with the puck in his own end. Ferster swooped in and threw the puck into the empty net. Andrew Thomson would also get an empty netter with just 15 seconds left in the contest. Kamloops would win 5-2 and sweep the weekend.
Tri-City now falls to 6-5-2 on the season. Their next game is Wednesday at the Toyota Center as they host the Vancouver Giants. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. and will begin a new five-game homestand.
Northwest Sports Desk 