What looked early on to be an absolute blowout became another tight, one-goal game at Prospera Place as the Kelowna Rockets hung on for a 6-5 win over the Prince George Cougars.
By the time many of the 4,349 fans who braved the frigid Okanagan Valley temperatures settled into their seats, the Rockets had jumped out to 3-0 lead just five minutes into the contest.
“I think we did a lot of good things in the first period and for parts of the second,” said Rockets head coach Jason Smith. “Then the game kind of switched and we started to look for cookies and goal and points.
Dillon Dube opened the scoring 49 seconds in with his 28th of the season, then factored into Carsen Twarynski’s power play goal to make it 2-0 at 5:04. Then 31 seconds later, Twarynski scored again, his 37th of the campaign.
In fact, it could have been 4-0 for Kelowna as Twarynski clearly beat starter Tavin Grant from the half-wall on a play that resulted in a disallowed goal. The officials ruled that Jack Cowell made contact with Grant before the goaltender fell to the ice. There was no penalty on the play and from the ensuing faceoff, the Rockets quickly scored a goal that counted.
It was the third puck that eluded Grant on the Rockets sixth shot and that was enough for Cougars bench boss Richard Matvichuk to give Grant the hook. Taylor Gauthier came on in relief and the move seemed to motivate the Cougars, a group that will not qualify for post-season play.
Prince George hit the score sheet when Jackson Leppard scored his 13th of the season on a power play. Leppard, who is among the WHL’s top draft eligibles this season, managed a nifty deflection off a point shot by Cougars leading scorer, Jared Bethune.
Liam Kindree answered 46 seconds later with his eighth of the season to restore the Rockets three-goal margin, but import forward Vladislav Mikhalchuk converted a rebound at 14:45 to make it 4-2 before the intermission.
“They are a team that works hard that was the message to our team before the game,” said Smith. “They have young guys that are competing and learning and growing and getting better as a team. And if we are not prepared to play for 60 minutes, it’ll be a hard game.”
Dube, with his 29th of the season, and Erik Gardiner with his fourth, scored two minutes apart in the second stanza to stake the Rockets to a commanding 6-2 advantage.
Gardiner’s tally, his first since Oct. 14, came when Gauthier was unable to control a rebound off a shot from Cal Foote. From the seat of his pants near the goal post, Gardiner swiped the puck into the Cougars cage. The second-year forward, among the most determined Rockets on the evening, returned to the lineup on Feb. 9 after a 39-game absence due to injury. Gardiner had been snake bitten since, going pointless in six straight games.
With Gardiner rounding into form and Kindree making his mark on the score sheet in his third game back after a 20-game hiatus, the Rockets benefited from their depth scoring on a night when Kole Lind, Nolan Foote and James Hilsendager did not dress.
“Those guys were both out for extended periods of time with injury and they are both finding their way and getting back to being solid contributors,” Smith said. “They have brought energy and life since they’ve been back and it’s going to be important for them to continue to work and get better every day.
Early in the third period, a collision in front of the Cougars goal resulted in Gauthier suffering some ill effects and after a couple of moments with the Prince George trainer, he left the ice surface for the remainder of the evening. Grant re-entered the fray and shut the door on Kelowna the rest of the way.
Prince George proceeded to make things interesting, creating plenty of anxiety for the hosts and its supporters. The Cougars scored three times in the final frame on goals by Ryan Schoettler, Rhett Rhinehart (first career WHL goal) and a shorthanded marker by the Cats leading scorer Jared Bethune.
With 1:31 to play, the Cats pulled Grant for an extra attacker, but were unable to get the tying goal past Rockets goaltender Brodan Salmond.
“It went from a game where we were in complete control to a game full of panic and pandemonium,” Smith said.
With the victory, the Rockets improved to 36-18-4-2 for 78 points and a three-point bulge over the Victoria Royals atop the B.C. Division standings. Prince George drops to 20-31-4-4.
Post Game Interview: Jason Smith (click here)
Post Game Interview: Liam Kindree (click here)
Rockets Fuel…Shots on goal were even – 37-37…Kindree and Cal Foote chipped in with two helpers each…Three stars were Dube, Twarynski and Bethune…Rockets scratches were Hilsendager, Lind, Nolan Foote and Roman Basran….Kelowna was 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Cougars went 1-for-2…Bethune’s goal was the seventh shorthanded tally surrendered by Kelowna…The Rockets are 21-7-0-1 at home this season and 14-4-5-1 in one goal games…The Rockets host the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday.
(DUBNetwork thanks Kevin Bain and the Kelowna Rockets for the audio/video.)
