The Kootenay Ice blew a three goal lead heading into the third period against the visiting Tri-City Americans, losing 5-4 at the Cranbrook Rec-Plex Wednesday night, Nov. 9.

More shocking than the high flying Ice blowing such a lead is the fact the Americans only needed fewer than four minutes, from 8:26 to 12:14 of the third period to put the Ice away.

The Ice opened the scoring on the powerplay just 3:08 into the game, with Jesse Ismond collecting his fifth of the campaign, and first of three on the night.

They upped their lead to two with Brock Montgomery’s second goal of the year, a give-and-go-and-give-go with Adam Rossignol at 17:37, to close out the first period.
The Americans continued to pound away at the ice and Brendan Shinnimin, returned from the Phoenix Coyotes’ camp, solved from Nathan Lieuwen at 10:20 of the second with a powerplay marker.

Ismond restored the Ice’s two-goal lead six minutes into the third with another powerplay tally, and the Ice appeared ready to cruise to another home ice win.

However, the Americans’ tandem of Shinnimin and Adam Hughesman went to work and in between 8:26 and 12:14 they combined for a goal and two assists each as the visiting squad silenced the 2,583 Ice faithful at the Cranbrook Rec-Plex, to up their team to a 5-3 lead. Two of the goals were powerplay markers.

Ismond bagged his third career hat-trick while the Ice had the extra man on with the goalie pulled, but they could not get anything else past Americans’ goalie Eric Comrie, the younger brother of currently unsigned NHLer Mike Comrie, who electrified Kootenay hockey fans during his brief 37 game stint with the Ice in 2000, posting 39 goals and 40 assists over that brief span.

With the loss the Ice fall to 12-4-1-2 on the year and remain in second place in the Western Hockey League’s Central Division, two points behind the high-scoring 14-5-1 Medicine Hat Tigers.

The Ice host the 6-10 Seattle Thunderbirds, featuring netminder Calvin Pickard, on Saturday, Nov. 12.

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