WHL Tri-City Americans

Rankin Leads Americans Comeback for 2-1 Shootout Win

Published on October 17, 2012 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


Prince Albert, SK- Tri-City persevered and notched their first comeback win of the season.

Connor Rankin scored in the third period to tie the game and scored the game clinching goal in the shootout to lead the Tri-City Americans (7-3-0-1, 15 pts) to a 2-1 shootout win over the Prince Albert Raiders (7-2-0-2, 16 pts) at the Art Hauser Centre.

Prince Albert scored first when Reid Gardiner put home a rebound to make it 1-0 for the Raiders early in the first period. Prince Albert had the advantage in the period, outshooting Tri-City 7-5 but only had a one goal lead through one period.

There were no goals in the second period. The Raiders outshot the Americans 16-10, and both teams had an equal amount of solid scoring chances. Tri-City had two power plays in the second period but couldn't score as they went into the third period down by one.

But Tri-City would tie the game in the third period. Connor Rankin slapped a loose puck in front of the net deflecting it off of a Prince Albert player and through the legs of Luke Siemens. Tri-City won the period in the shots department 10-8, and forced the game into overtime.

Tri-City had two shots in overtime while Prince Albert had one, but neither team had a good scoring chance to send the game into a shootout.

After the first round where both Justin Feser and Mark McNeill were denied, Brian Williams scored while Anthony Bardaro was stopped by Eric Comrie. Connor Rankin sealed the game by shooting a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Siemens for the 2-1 shootout victory.

The Americans have won four straight, and five in a row on the road. The team is 6-0-0-1 in their last seven games and is now tied atop the U.S. Division with the Portland Winterhawks. Tri-City won its first game of the season after trailing in the second period.

With the win, Eric Comrie is now 10th alone on the Americans all-time wins list with 26. He made 31 saves in the win, while Luke Siemens made 27 saves in the loss.

The Americans are back in action tomorrow when they head to the site of the 2013 Mastercard Memorial Cup to take on the Saskatoon Blades (4-7-0-0) at the Credit Union Centre. Game time is 6:05 p.m. Tri-City is 9-24 all-time against the Blades, including a 1-14 record at Saskatoon, with the lone win coming in the 1995-96 season. Tri-City did tie the Blades 4-4 in the 2004-05 season, but Saskatoon has won three in a row in Saskatchewan. Tri-City won the meeting last season 5-2 in the Toyota Center. NewsTalk 870 will broadcast the game beginning with the pregame show starting at 5:45 p.m. WHL Live will stream the game online beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Jack in the Box Three Stars: 1. Eric Comrie, Tri-City 2. Brian Williams, Tri-City 3. Luke Siemens, Prince Albert

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 17, 2012


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