Americans Finish Strong, But Fall, 5-3, In Penticton
WHL Tri-City Americans

Americans Finish Strong, But Fall, 5-3, In Penticton

Published on February 6, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


Penticton, B.C. - The Tri-City Americans (25-20-3-1) once again had a strong third period, but the Penticton Vees (32-11-4-3) fended off the comeback effort in a 5-3 final at the South Okanagan Events Centre Friday night.

The Vees got the jump early as they opened the scoring 1:05 into the game. A scramble at the side of the net saw the Vees poke the puck away from Ryan Grout, and Tristen Peterson quickly snapped it into an open net for the first goal of the game.

A few minutes later Jacob Kvasnicka found a loose puck in the Americans zone and cut across the slot toward the right faceoff circle. From a sharp angle, Kvasnicka fired a shot over the shoulder of Grout to push the Penticton lead to 2-0.

Three minutes after that, Kvasnicka scored his second of the game after Tri-City turned the puck over in their own zone. Kvasnicka skated to the net down the left wing before sneaking a shot under the blocker arm of Grout and in to make it 3-0 8:52 into the game.

The game settled down for nearly 10 minutes before the Americans had a strong finish to the period. After the Vees turned the puck over at the Tri-City blue line, Cruz Pavao floated the puck out to center to send Connor Dale on a breakaway.

Dale was denied by Ethan McCallum on his initial chance but scored on his own rebound to send the Americans into the intermission down 3-1. Shots were 10-9 Tri-City after 20 minutes.

The second period had a slower start to it, but the Vees scored the next goal of the game off an unlucky bounce for Tri-City. Diego Johnson fired a shot on goal off the rush and the puck appeared to bounce off both Dylan LeBret and Jakub Vanecek and in, restoring Penticton's three-goal lead at 4-1.

Tri-City had a pair of power plays in the middle frame but couldn't capitalize and cut into the lead. The Vees led 4-1 heading into the third period with the shots 21-20 Americans.

Much like Sunday in Everett the Americans had a strong third period, scoring twice to get within a single goal. First was Grady Martin redirecting a centering feed into an open net just after an Americans power play ended, cutting Penticton's lead to 4-2 with 11:08 remaining.

On another power play five minutes later, Crew Martinson skated out from the goal line and tried to sweep the puck on goal. He was poke checked, and the puck came loose to Dale at the side of the net as he scored his second of the game, pulling Tri-City within a goal with 6:05 to go.

The Vees got some breathing room back as Ryden Evers scored off the rush with 3:31 remaining, restoring a two-goal lead late in regulation.

The Vees pulled Grout for the extra attacker with 91 seconds left, and kept the puck in the Vees zone for most of the remaining time on the clock, but couldn't cut into the lead as the Vees held on for the 5-3 final.

The two teams meet again Saturday night at the Toyota Center for the Americans annual Pink Ice Night, presented by Inland Imaging, for a 6:05 puck drop.

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2026


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