MEDICINE HAT, AB. — Cruz Pavao scored his first career overtime winner, lifting the Tri-City Americans (6-7-1-0) to a 4-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers (10-5-2-0) on Sunday night.
Pavao’s Overtime Winner Caps Off Thrilling Back-and-Forth Battle
The game started at a high tempo, with both teams trading chances early. On their first shot of the night, Medicine Hat opened the scoring when Jonas Woo fired a shot through traffic over the glove of Xavier Wendt at 7:41.
Tri-City quickly responded less than two minutes later. Carter Savage set up Gavin Garland in front, who tipped the puck past Carter Casey to tie the game at one with his second goal of the season. The Tigers nearly reclaimed the lead at the end of the period, but the buzzer had already sounded before Liam Ruck’s breakaway attempt crossed the line.
The pace continued into the second period, highlighted by a stretch of nearly seven minutes without a whistle. Both goaltenders — Wendt and Casey — made key saves to keep the score even until the Americans broke through late. After a power play expired, Charlie Elick jumped into the play and poked a loose puck through traffic for his third goal of the year, giving Tri-City a 2-1 lead heading into the third.
Early in the final frame, Connor Dale extended the Americans’ lead to 3-1 with a sharp shot off the rush for his fifth of the season. But penalty trouble swung momentum back to the Tigers. Markus Ruck made it 3-2 with a wrist shot through traffic, and just seconds later, Jonas Woo scored his second of the game on the power play to tie it 3-3 with 13:20 left.
The game remained deadlocked into overtime, where Bryce Pickford’s high-sticking penalty gave Tri-City a power play. On the ensuing four-on-three, Cruz Pavao took a feed in the right circle, cut toward the slot, and fired a perfect shot over Casey’s glove to win it — his first career overtime goal and third game-winner of his young career.
Up Next
Tri-City Americans return home to the Toyota Center to open a six-game homestand, hosting the Vancouver Giants on Friday at 7:05 p.m.