Americans drop 7-2 game on the road to Kelowna
Published on February 16, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release
Kelowna, B.C. - The Tri-City Americans (25-24-3-1) fell behind 4-0 after one period of play to the Kelowna Rockets (29-18-5-2), ultimately dropping a 7-2 game Monday afternoon.
Kelowna opened the scoring 5:05 into the game as Ryan Oouthoudt took a pass in the left faceoff circle and cut to the net, sliding the puck through the fivehole of Ryan Grout.
The Americans had numerous good looks in the first period, but Rockets goaltender Josh Banini denied them at every turn to keep Tri-City off the board.
The Rockets then exploded for three goals in 3:26. First was Vojtech Cihar on a power play, taking a cross-ice pass from Tij Iginla to make it 2-0.
Hiroki Gojsic then redirected a pass toward the net to make it 3-0 before Iginla fired a shot over the shoulder of Grout from between his legs to give Kelowna a 4-0 advantage heading into the first intermission. Xavier Wendt replaced Grout in goal to start the second period.
Tri-City went to their first power play of the game early in the period but couldn't capitalize to cut into the lead. A few minutes later Ty Halaburda intercepted a pass at the Kelowna blue line and took off on a breakaway, lifting a shot over Wendt's glove to make it 5-0.
Jakub Vanecek then answered for Tri-City to get the Americans on the board. Picking up the puck at the left point, Vanecek took a few strides in before letting go a wrist shot from the top of the circle, beating Banini over the glove with his 12th of the season.
Cihar then scored his second of the game to restore Kelowna's four-goal advantage before the Americans responded 18 seconds later. After a turnover by the Rockets in their own zone, Jaxen Adam let a shot go from the left point that was stopped by Banini, but the rebound came right to Carter Kingerski who picked up his third of the year to make it 6-2 heading into the third period.
Iginla scored the only goal of the third period on a two-on-one rush as the Americans fell 7-2, their sixth loss in a row.
The Americans return home to host the Spokane Chiefs (27-26-1-0) on Saturday at 6:05.
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