Tij Iginla scores in dying seconds for Rockets 32 win

Tij Iginla's last-second heroics lifted the Kelowna Rockets to victory over the Tri-City Americans on Monday evening at Prospera Place.

Tied at two, Iginla took off on a breakaway to net the game-winner with 14 seconds remaining on the clock.

"It was a bit of a weird play, I knew there was like 15 or 20 seconds left," said Iginla about his game-winning goal in his postgame interview. "The puck was coming around to the spot and I was kind of supposed to be there, Mally [Kris Mallette] was yelling a little bit from the bench and I heard him. But then it bounced over the guy's stick and it was a weird play at the bench, I think he thought maybe it was too many men or something so he left it, and I was in on pretty much a breakaway and was lucky enough to get it by him."

GAME SUMMARY

Hiroki Gojsic from the right corner sent the puck out front to Michael Cicek (7)who made a play off of his skates and backhanded the opening goal of the game 6:11 into the first period. Seattle Kraken product Lukas Dragicevic (12) skated from his zone along the right side, cutting along the point he skated into the slot letting go of a shot that beat Jari Kykkanen at 11:04.

After the Rockets thwarted an American shorthanded attempt, Hiroki Gojsic fed the puck up the middle to spring Luke Schelter (11) on a breakaway to restore the Rockets lead 3:33 into the second frame.

Calgary Flames prospect Parker Bell (23) skated to the left corner then back out to the bottom of the faceoff circle letting go of a backhand shot to tie the game 6:55 into the third period. In the final minute of the frame, from behind his net, defenceman Ethan Mittelsteadt rimmed it along the glass. With the Americans making a change, Rockets leading goal scorer Tij Iginla picked up the puck in front of the Tri-City bench taking off on a breakaway, beating Kyle Kelsey with 14 seconds left in regulation.

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ADDITIONAL STATS

• The Rockets record is now 25-28-3-0
• Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen stopped 34 of 36 shots fired his way to pick up his 20th win of the season
• Tri-City was 0/3 with the man advantage, while the Rockets power play went 1/4
• The Americans outshot the Rockets 36-27
• This was the third of five meetings between the two this season, with Kelowna leading the season series 2-1. The Rockets will face the Americans next on March 2 on the road.

UP NEXT

Kelowna will host the surging Vancouver Giants on Friday for the annual Canadian Mental Health Association game before the BC Division-leading Prince George Cougars visit for the Rockets RE/MAX Presents: Nickelodeon Nights for Children’s Miracle Network game on Saturday