The Kelowna Rockets hosted the Victoria Royals at Prospera Place in an early season matchup between two teams yet to lose in regulation time. By many accounts, these are the teams likely to battle for top spot in the BC Division this season.
And while the Rockets had hoped to flush the Royals four-game winning streak, it was the visitors on this night who would deal the terms, in form of a resounding 8-3 thrashing that kept Victoria atop the BC Division standings with a perfect 5-0 record.
All five wins by the Royals have come against division rivals.
Another quick start earned Kelowna the lead at the first period intermission. Dillon Dube with his first of the season and Kole Lind with his fourth staked the Rockets to a 2-0 margin. In its four games this season, Kelowna has outscored its opponents 7-0 in the first period.
In retrospect, perhaps the Royals were simply bluffing through 20 minutes.
An offensive barrage by Victoria resulted in six unanswered goals in the second period, an onslaught that stunned many among the 4,461 in the audience. With its six-goal stanza, the current edition of the Royals has set a team record for most goals in one period.
Regan Nagy with his first two goals of the season, Ryan Peckford with his sixth, Dante Hannoun with his seventh, Yan Khomenko with his first and Jared Legien with his second supplied the offense for Victoria.
If there was a turning point, it came midway through the period when Kole Lind scored what would have given the Rockets a 3-2 lead. However, the goal was correctly disallowed due to a hand pass in the offensive zone. It then took the Royals just six seconds to respond following the ensuing faceoff as Kaid Oliver and Khomenko sped in two-on-one and worked the puck to perfection. In effect, Khomenko’s tap in was an empty-netter, the go ahead goal that seemed to seal Kelowna’s fate.
Nagy’s second of the period, a fluke off the stick of Kelowna rearguard Gordie Ballhorn at 14:48, chased Salmond in favour of rookie James Porter.
The Rockets appeared to be a frustrated group late in the frame as a parade to the penalty box resulted in a lengthy 5-on-3 power play for the Royals. Porter, however, was outstanding during the shortage.
The Rockets played the third period primarily with its understudies as head coach Jason Smith chose to rest a few veterans.
Nagy, the only 20-year-old in the Royals lineup, completed his hat trick two minutes into the third. Connor Bruggen-Cate, with his first of the season scored for Kelowna while Khomenko added his second of the night late in the period.
The Rockets and Royals meet again in a month’s time when Kelowna travels to Victoria for a weekend doubleheader, November 3 and 4. By then, the Royals are likely to have a full complement of 20-year-olds in the lineup as forward Tyler Soy (Anaheim) and defenceman Chaz Reddekopp (Los Angeles) have been returned to junior by their respective NHL organizations.
The Rockets head to Prince George this weekend for a doubleheader against the Cougars. Victoria plays in Kamloops on Friday night.
Rockets fuel… The Rockets outshot the Royals 29-26…Victoria went 3-for-8 on the power play while Kelowna was 0-for-2…The three stars were Nagy, Phillips and Legien…Kelowna dropped to 2-1-0-1 through four games…Salmond made his fourth straight start in goal for the Rockets. Salmond, whose father Scott works for Hockey Canada, appeared in 23 games last season behind starter Michael Herringer…..Czech import forward Marek Skvrne made his debut for the Rockets. He skated on the fourth line with fellow rookies Colum McGauley and Wil Kushniryk…Earlier this week, Kelowna moved two-spotter Tomas Soustal to the Edmonton Oil Kings to solve both their import and 20-year-old limit challenges. Kelowna received a 2018 fourth round pick in return…The Rockets current roster includes four drafted players; Cal Foote (Tampa Bay, ’17), Kole Lind (Vancouver, ’17), Dillon Dube (Calgary, ’16), Carsen Twarynski (Philadelphia, ’16)…When NHL’s Central Scouting released its Players to Watch, rookie defenceman Libor Zabransky was the only member of the Rockets listed – penciled in as a “C” rated prospect. Zabransky has been paired with Cal Foote so far this season.
