Americans Drop Home Opener To Rockets
October 6, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release
Kennewick, WA. - The Tri-City Americans (1-2-1-0) heavily outshot and out chanced the Kelowna Rockets (1-5-0-0) Saturday night but were stymied by Jake Pilon in a 2-1 loss in their home opener.
The opening shift of the game set the tone as the Americans came out of the gates with numerous big hits, getting the crowd excited in the opening seconds.
Both teams had a power play in the opening period and both had great looks to open the scoring. Lukas Matecha stood tall on the Rockets four-on-three power play to keep the game scoreless before Austin Zemlak hit the post behind Pilon later in the period.
The two teams went into the intermission scoreless with Tri-City outshooting Kelowna 13-10.
Zemlak made good on a chance early in the second period, opening the scoring in the game. The puck was below the Rockets goal line before popping out to the slot and onto the stick of Zemlak.
He let a shot go from the high slot, beating a screened Pilon with his first as an American 3:36 into the second period.
The game remained 1-0 for nearly seven minutes before Kelowna tied the game on the man advantage. Michael Cicek dug a puck out of a pile in front of the net before snapping a shot past Matecha's blocker, pulling the Rockets even 10:17 into the second period.
Kelowna then took the lead after a strong forecheck led to a turnover. The puck was worked to Caden Price in the left circle and his shot deflected off an Americans player and past Matecha, giving Kelowna a 2-1 lead.
Despite outshooting the Rockets 14-6 in the period the Americans found themselves down 2-1 heading into the third.
While the opening 40 minutes saw both teams have a number of good scoring chances, the third period was the opposite as the Rockets clamped down defensively to protect their one-goal lead.
Even with both team's having a power play in the third, the two combined for just eight shots on net over the final 20 minutes of play as Kelowna ran out the clock and hung on for the 2-1 win.
The Americans next game action comes Tuesday night when they meet the Seattle Thunderbirds (1-4-1-0) on the road.
Announced attendance was 4,136.
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