It was a sloppy back-and-forth Tuesday night game that saw the Kamloops Blazers defeat the Tri-City Americans 5-4 in overtime. Cruz Pavao netted two goals and is now one off tying his season-high, while Gavin Garland added his fourth goal in six games. Along with that, Kamloops snapped a four-game losing streak against Tri-City, having been swept by the Americans in last year’s season series.
1st Period
Just 47 seconds in, Kamloops’ top line— which had combined for 93 points entering the game— got the Blazers on the board early, with Tri-City finding themselves trailing once again in a game.
Nathan Behm and J.P. Hurlbert hustled in on a two-on-one, with Behm sliding a cross-crease feed to Hurlbert, the WHL points leader, who one-timed it past Ryan Grout.
Tri-City had a great chance not long after to tie it up.
Connor Dale used his electric speed to get around the Kamloops defense on the left wing and attempted a backdoor feed, but it missed everyone.
The American’s were the first to head to the penalty kill after Jaxen Adam was called for slashing at 8:58.
Entering the game, Kamloop’s power play was just under 30%, while Tri-City’s penalty kill, which had been trending upward, was sitting at 68%.
Kamloops generated some great looks, but a handful of solid blocker saves by Ryan Grout helped kill off the penalty.
The game was tied 1-1 when Cruz Pavao scored an incredible solo goal. Pavao blocked a shot at the point and popped out of the zone. He was the first to it, skating away on a breakaway before calmly picking his spot and beating Grout glove side for his eighth goal of the season at 12:22.
Nathan Behm and J.P. Hurlbert of Kamloops would team up again to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead just a minute after Pavao’s goal. Behm circled with the puck at the right point and spotted an unmarked Hurlbert on the backdoor. Behm slid the puck over, and Hurlbert one-timed it past Grout.
Tri-City answered quickly, with Carter Savage scoring a game-tying goal three minutes later. Savage fired a one-timer from the point that was tipped by Gavin Garland and found the back of the net.
The intense first period ended with the game tied 2-2. Kamloops outshot Tri-City 15-9, while Tri-City went 1/1 on the penalty kill.
2nd Period
After a sluggish start to the second period, Tri-City got their first power play opportunity with over six minutes left, but failed to convert.
Cash Koch then had a prime chance to give Tri-City the lead after the power play expired.
Pavao, along the far boards, passed it to Koch, who was wide open in the slot. But Koch lost control of the puck just as he was about to shoot.
With the period winding down, Cruz Pavao drew a tripping penalty, and Tri-City would start the third period with almost two full minutes of power play time.
After two periods, the score remained 2-2. Kamloops outshot Tri-City 21-16, and Tri-City was 2/2 on the penalty kill.
3rd Period
The third period opened with a flurry of action as Kamloops wasted no time getting the first goal of the period—this time while on the penalty kill as their aggressiveness all night on the penalty kill paid off. Cooper Moore, deep in Tri-City’s zone, dropped a pass to Tommy Lafreniere in the left circle. Lafreniere fired a wrister past Grout’s glove.
Tri-City Assistant Coach T.J. Miller spoke on the struggles of the Americans’ power play.
“When looking at the power play, you have to take what you are given. Looking at Kamloops’ last string of games, they’ve been relatively passive on the penalty kill. So for us, if we were able to move the puck well and change sides, we were going to find some holes. But when we hold onto pucks a little too long and keep them on one side, it’s easy to defend. Kamloops is pretty run-and-gun, looking for long stretch passes and breakaways, and we weren’t ready for it tonight.”
A few minutes later, Cruz Pavao scored his second of the night, firing a shot from the point past Logan Edmonstone’s glove.
Assistant Coach T.J. Millar spoke about Pavao’s early-season success but emphasized the need for others to step up as well.
“He’s a shooter, right? That’s his bread and butter, and we need to keep getting him in those spots so he can keep finding success. But he needs to stay on his toes, be first on the puck, and shoot when he has space. He’s been doing that lately, and it’s awesome to see. What we also need from him, as a guy with experience in the league, is to be contagious. We want him to lead by example—finding those spaces and competing. It’s great to see Cruz having success, but we need to see it from more of the team.”
Tri-City had a great chance to answer back halfway through the third, but Kamloops’ aggressiveness on the penalty kill once again paid off. Gavin Garland was called for holding as a Blazers player entered the Americans’ zone, and the game would be four-on-four for almost two minutes.
The penalties kept piling up, and after the four-on-four expired, Elick was called for checking to the head, giving Kamloops a short four-on-three advantage, followed by a full minute of five-on-four.
Kamloops capitalized after some great pressure on the power play. Following a scramble in front of the net, Isa Guram got a handle on the puck and lifted it over Grout, who was sprawled out on the ice.
With 3:55 left, Tri-City did it again and Cash Koch scored his first goal of the night to even the game once again, this time at 4-4.
After a great stretch pass from Jakub Vanecek, Koch slipped past two Kamloops defenders and broke away on a clean breakaway. Koch went forehand and slipped the puck five-hole on Edmonstone.
Both teams had some great looks in the remainder of regulation, but no one could find the back of the net, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime
Tri-City entered overtime with a 1-1 record in overtime this season, marking their first home overtime game of the year.
In overtime, Gavin Garland fired a shot on net that was stopped by Edmonstone. The Tri-City players thought Edmonstone had the puck covered, slowing down momentarily. But the puck was still loose, and Cooper Moore quickly gathered it beside the net. Moore fired a stretch pass to Nathan Behm, who was all alone on a breakaway. Behm went glove side on Grout to give Kamloops the 5-4 win.
Post-Game/What’s Next
Tri-City, fortunate to even earn a point tonight, dropped their third straight game, falling to 8-9-2 and dropping to 10th in the Western Conference.
The Americans were outshot 36-32, went 0/3 on the power play, and 2/3 on the penalty kill.
After the game, Tri-City Assistant Coach T.J. Millar shared his thoughts on the American’s performance.
“Less than ideal. I feel like it’s a byproduct of how our attitude and effort in practice have been at times. We’ve addressed that with the players. We need to practice how we want to play. Tonight, we were a little sloppy getting into it. I think guys were waiting to see what Kamloops would do. Kamloops scored early, which put us behind the eight-ball from the start. We really struggled to find our game, and I think it’s the growing pains of junior hockey. We need guys who will step up and lead, and we were lucky to get a point tonight.”
Millar also pointed out another key issue contributing to the team’s struggles over the past three games.
“It looks like we go into games thinking they’re going to be easy. We’ve had some success, and I think that breeds a little bit of complacency. That comes with maturity—understanding that the other team is trying to win too. We have to be ready to match their energy and compete.”
Tri-City will look to end their homestand on a positive note with a Friday night game against the Regina Pats.
Millar outlined what it would take to snap the three-game skid and get back on track against Regina.
“It comes down to mentality. We need to get back to the basics—moving our feet, winning puck battles, transitioning quickly, and not being afraid to shoot the puck. We have a couple of days to get back to those basics, but we need to fix this quickly.”
