Kamloops, B.C. – The Tri-City Americans (16-13-2-0) once again battled back from a 3-1 deficit as Savin Virk scored the overtime winner in a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers (14-12-3-3) Wednesday night.
Tri-City Strikes First
The Americans opened the scoring 11:18 into the game. Charlie Elick floated the puck from along the boards out to the neutral zone and it eluded a pair of Kamloops sticks before being gathered by Mason Mykichuk in stride.
Mykichuk had a step on the last Blazer defenseman and was able to fire a shot past the blocker of Logan Edmonstone from the right faceoff circle for his third goal of the season.
Physical Play and Missed Power Play
Tri-City went to their first power play of the game three minutes later after Cash Koch ran over Rhett Ravndhal behind the Kamloops net, prompting Blazers captain Ryan Michael to drop the gloves. Koch got the better of him in the scrap and Michael was given the extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Despite a late scramble in front of the Kamloops net on the man advantage, Tri-City was unable to add to their lead.
Blazers Answer Late in the First
The Blazers tied the game off a faceoff in the Tri-City zone in the final minute of the period. Josh Evaschesen used an Americans defenseman as a screen and snuck a shot through the five hole of Xavier Wendt, pulling Kamloops even with 58 seconds to go in the first.
Just 30 seconds after the goal, Wendt made his finest save of the game by denying Evaschesen on a two-on-one rush, sliding to his left and robbing the Blazer forward of his second goal of the game.
The two teams went to the locker room tied at one with the shots 12-8 Tri-City.
Kamloops Takes Control in the Second
Kamloops took their first lead of the game early in the second period. JP Hurlbert chased down a loose puck behind the Americans net and Dylan LeBret hit a rut in the ice and fell over, allowing Hurlbert to walk out from behind the goal and slide the puck across the crease to Nathan Behm for an easy tap in. The goal came 1:06 into the period.
The Blazers jumped ahead 3-1 as Evaschesen scored his second of the game, firing home a centering pass from below the goal line after Kamloops stole the puck on the forecheck.
Americans Fight Back Again
During a delayed penalty to the Blazers Tri-City cut the lead in half. Alexander Laing skated into the left faceoff circle off the rush and made a nice move to drag the puck around a defender.
The puck ended up loose in between the circles and Laing was able to lift a backhand shot over Edmonstone’s glove for his fourth of the season, cutting the lead to 3-2 with 8:14 left in the period.
Late in the middle frame the Americans tied the game. Off a faceoff in the Blazers zone, Savin Virk tried a shot off the draw that was blocked, but Koch found the rebound and caught Edmonstone leaning the wrong way to pick up his sixth goal of the year with 1:42 remaining in the second.
The game was tied 3-3 heading into the third with the Americans leading 29-21 in shots.
Despite excellent chances for both teams in the third, neither team could take the lead as they went to overtime for the second straight meeting.
Virk Delivers in Overtime
After winning the opening faceoff the Tri-City Americans carried the puck into the Blazers zone before losing it for a brief moment. Hurlbert took off through center ice, looking for the breakaway pass, but Garland intercepted it along the boards.
Garland then gained the Blazers line and stepped around a man to create a two-on-one rush down low. Garland fed the puck across the ice looking for Virk, and the puck deflected off his body and in, sending the Americans into the Christmas break with a 4-3 win.
Heading Into the Break
The Tri-City Americans are now off until December 27 when they host the Portland Winterhawks (18-15-0-0) at the Toyota Center for a 6:05 puck drop.
More information at: https://chl.ca/whl-americans/article/recap-virks-overtime-winner-sends-americans-into-christmas-break-with-win-in-kamloops/