The Tri-City Americans fell 6-4 Friday night to the Victoria Royals after a late goal and a massive blow to the Americans’ playoff hopes.
In a heartbeat, Tri-City opened scoring in the contest. Parker Bell dropped a pass off behind him to the waiting Carter MacAdams in the slot. MacAdams, at 1:32 in the first period, off-balanced, fired a wrister that snuck by Victoria netminder Braden Holt.
Victoria then went on to score four straight unanswered goals in the first period in a span of eight minutes.
The first Royals goal came by way of the rookie Cole Reschny. Reschny nabbed his eighteenth goal of the season after tapping the puck with his skate by the pad of American goalie Lukas Matecha after a shot by Tyson Laventure to tie the game.
The first star of the night, Dawson Pasternak, gave Victoria the lead at 11:11 in the first period with his first goal of the night.
Pasternak received a feed from Cole Reschny at the side of the net. Pasternak was all alone in the slot and fired a one-time bomb through the five-hole of Lukas Matecha to give the Royals a 2-1 lead.
Fourteen seconds later, at 11:25, Victoria would add a third goal as frustration mounted for the Americans.
Jared Brinson from beyond the left circle fired a wrist shot that snuck all the way through traffic and right by Lukas Matecha’s glove to make it 3-1 Victoria. Brinson’s goal led Tri-City to use their only timeout early to attempt to rally the troops.
Unfortunately, for the time being, that did not work out for American head coach Stu Barnes, as Victoria would add a fourth goal five minutes later at 16:11.
Dawson Pasternak of the Royals got his second goal of the game and was on hat-trick watch in the first period.
Cole Reschny, at the point, snapped a wrister towards the net that deflected off an American defender and right to Pasternak’s stick. Pasternak was all alone at the side of the net and lobbed the puck over the diving Lukas Matecha, making it 4-1 Victoria.
Tri-City would sneak a goal in just before the intermission to ensure the game stayed within reach.
With just thirty seconds left in the first period, Jake Sloan got to work after receiving a headman pass from Cash Koch. Sloan skated in on the left wing before quickly cutting to the slot and snapping a wrist shot that went five-hole on Braden Holt to make it a two-goal game heading into the first intermission.
Shots after a period of play were all even at 12 a side, while Victoria held a 4-2 lead heading into the second period.
Jake Sloan got his second goal of the game on the power play to make it a one-goal game at 13:26 in the second period. Jordan Gavin fired a wrister from the left circle, and Jake Sloan, waiting out net-front, tipped the puck by the blocker of Braden Holt to make it a one-goal game.
Shots after two periods of play were still even with 22 a piece. Victoria clung on to a one-goal lead heading into the third period.
Tri-City would get a crucial game-tying goal just five minutes into the third period.
At the left faceoff Circle, Brandon Whynott slowly spun around and fired a shot through traffic that deflected off the post and in for his 14th goal of the season.
Reggie Newman would deliver a low blow to the 3200 fans in attendance at the Toyota Center. With a little over a minute left in regulation, Tanner Scott of the Victoria Royals fired a wrister from the point that Newman tipped at the front of the net to give Victoria the lead again.
Victoria would add one more goal by way of empty net coming by way of Jared Brinson for his second goal of the game with just a few seconds remaining.
With their loss, Tri-City move to 22-33-2-1 on the season. Tri-City is now 8 points out of a playoff spot held by Spokane, with only ten games remaining in the regular season. Tri-City will look to claw away at the point margin on Saturday, March 2nd, against the Kelowna Rockets. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 