RECAP: Americans (4) vs Blazers (5) OT – November 18, 2025
Kennewick, WA. – The Tri-City Americans (8-9-2-0) tied the game after falling behind four separate times against the Kamloops Blazers (10-9-2-2) Tuesday night but could never find the lead in a 5-4 overtime loss at the Toyota Center.
It was a tough start for the Americans as Kamloops jumped ahead just 47 seconds after puck drop. After an odd-man rush for Tri-City was denied by Kamloops, the Blazers raced ahead on a two-on-one of their own. J.P. Hurlbert took a pass from Nathan Behm and made no mistake, beating Ryan Grout on the blocker side to give Kamloops the early lead.
That 1-0 lead held for nearly 12 minutes, including through an Americans penalty kill, until Tri-City tied the game. After blocked a shot, Cruz Pavao chased down the loose puck for a breakaway from his own blue line.
Pavao calmly lifted a shot over the glove of Logan Edmonstone, scoring his eighth of the season to tie the game at one.
The Blazers fired back quickly however as Hurlbert scored his second of the night off a one timer from the left circle, restoring Kamloops’s lead just 1:10 after Pavao tied the game.
Just a few minutes later an excellent shift by the Americans in the Blazers zone led to the tying goal. After multiple turnovers by Kamloops to keep the pressure up, the puck slid up toward the blue line on a clearing attempt.
Carter Savage immediately fired it toward the net and Gavin Garland was able to deflect it perfectly over the shoulder of Edmonstone and off the back bar of the net, once again tying the game.
The two teams went into the intermission tied at two with the shots 15-9 Kamloops.
After a slow start and a back-and-forth finish to the second, the score remained deadlocked at two heading into the third. Tri-City killed off a late power play in the middle frame before going to the power play with just three seconds left in the period.
Despite starting the third on the man advantage, the Americans found themselves trailing again after the Blazers scored a shorthanded goal. Tommy Lafrieniere let a hard wrist shot go off the rush, beating Grout past the glove 1:28 into the third to make it 3-2.
Pavao responded with his second of the game three minutes later, firing the puck on net from the slot with traffic in front to tie the game at three.
The game then remained tied until the later stages of the third when the Americans ran into some penalty trouble. A four-on-four sequence ended as Charlie Elick was called for a checking to the head penalty, giving the Blazers a four-on-three power play.
That eventually turned into a brief five-on-three power play, which Tri-City killed off, but Kamloops struck on the ensuing five-on-four. A goal-mouth scramble led to Grout making multiple saves on chances in tight, but Isa Guram was able to chop a loose puck over his right pad to put Kamloops up 4-3 with 6:06 remaining.
For a fourth time, Tri-City answered back just a few minutes later. After a faceoff win in the neutral zone, Jakub Vanecek sent Cash Koch a stretch pass that turned into a breakaway, and Koch was able to force the puck over the glove of Edmonstone to tie the game with 3:55 remaining.
That sent the two teams into overtime, where Tri-City recorded four shots on net. Their last of which was not covered by Edmonstone, who fell over onto his backside after making a save, but the loose puck was gathered by Cooper Moore and fired ahead to Nathan Behm for a breakaway.
Behm then ended the game by beating Grout with a shot past the glove hand, fending off the furious comeback effort by Tri-City.
The Americans now wrap up their six-game homestand by hosting the Regina Pats (9-9-2-1) on Friday night, the only time Regina will visit the Toyota Center until the 2027-28 season.
Announced attendance was 2,529.
