Examiner.com: Ams rally for road win
By Rene Ferran | Examiner.com
Connor Rankin will have quite the story to tell about his first WHL goal.
The 16-year-old Tri-City Americans rookie scored the game-winner with just over 13 minutes remaining to lift Tri-City to a 4-3 win over the Kelowna Rockets on Tuesday night at Prospera Place.
“Connor drove the net hard expecting the pass, and when he got it, he buried it in the back of the net,” said Ams associated coach Scott Beattie. “We’re very happy for him. What a great way to get your first goal in the WHL.”
The Americans won their fifth straight in Kelowna (including a pair of wins in last year’s playoff series) and have won five straight in the regular season over the Rockets. They are 17-4 vs. Kelowna in the past five years.
Patrick Holland continued his strong play of the opening week, scoring a pair of goals, while defenseman Brock Sutherland had three assists.
“When Patrick moves his feet and plays hard, he’s an elite player in the WHL,” Beattie said. “He’s been working really hard in practice so far, and it’s showing in games.”
Tri-City trailed 3-2 after two periods but took better advantage when both teams’ benches were depleted to open the third after a scrum with 8 seconds left in the second saw four players for each side sent to the penalty box for significant minutes, while the Ams’ Jordan Messier and Kelowna’s Max Adolph received game misconducts.
The fracas seemed to energize the Americans. Holland’s second goal of the night tied the game at 4:53 of the period, and Rankin’s goal came almost two minutes later.
“We didn’t show a whole lot of emotion to that point,” Beattie said. “But guys stepped up and did what they needed to do. We didn’t play our best tonight, but we found a way to win.”
Beattie also praised LW Justin Feser, who moved to the blue line during the 10-minute stretch following the dust-up when the Ams were down to three defensemen — Spencer Humphries and Zachary Yuen received misconduct penalties, while Drydn Dow was out with an upper-body injury suffered in the first period.
Beattie said while Dow’s injury wasn’t considered serious, it was 50/50 whether he would be available for Friday’s rematch between the teams at Toyota Center.
