To rather a large degree, the Kelowna Rockets arrived unarmed at the Langley Events Centre for its tilt against the Vancouver Giants.
On a night when the list of players not dressed may have been the game story, the result was perhaps predictable as the Giants rode a four goal outburst in the first period to defeat the Rockets, 6-1.
For the second straight night, Kole Lind did not play. Prior to Friday’s game, the team advised DUBNetwork that Lind would miss the game due to illness. It is presumed his absence against the Giants relates to the same illness. Lind leads the team in scoring with 32 points.
Dillon Dube also did not play in Langley. Dube is second in team scoring with 26 points in 19 games and has been the Rockets best player over the past three weeks. Following post game interviews at Prospera Place on Friday night where the Rockets dumped Lethbridge 7-4, Dube was observed moving in rather a gingerly fashion.
Nolan Foote also sat this one out. Midway through the third period against Lethbridge, the highly-touted 17-year-old was knocked to the ice near a scrum at the Hurricanes blueline. He appeared to suffer an upper body injury and was helped off the ice by teammates.
While the Rockets inserted a few youngsters, the Giants are playing perhaps their best hockey of the season. Despite a 6-2 loss in Kamloops on Friday night, Vancouver has been able to keep the second-place Rockets within striking distance. Last weekend, Vancouver collected five points from three games on an overtime loss in Kelowna and home ice wins over the Victoria Royals and Edmonton Oil Kings.
On Saturday, the Giants scored four times in nine minutes to put this game away before the first period ended.
Brad Morrison (7th) and Tyler Benson (5th) scored power play goals 1:31 apart, then Ty Ronning (23rd) and Tyler Popowich (4th) scored even strength markers 1:09 apart. The Giants quick strike offence resulted in the exit of Rockets goaltender James Porter in favour of 16-year-old backup Roman Basran.
James Malm (11th) scored the lone goal in the second period and Benson added his second of the night late in the third frame.
Marek Skvrne with his first career WHL goal scored on the power play for Kelowna in the third period to break Giants goaltender David Tendeck’s shutout bid. Tendeck made 26 saves on the night, including a penalty shot save against Kyle Topping shortly after Skvrne’s tally.
Vancouver outshot the Rockets 37-27. Kelowna was 1-for-3 on the power play while the Giants went 2-for-2. The Rockets were assessed four of the ten minor penalties.
The Rockets are now 12-7-2-1, good for 27 points. The Giants improved to 10-9-2-2 and moved to within three points of second place.
While the friendly confines of Prospera Place in Kelowna have treated the Rockets well of late with seven straight wins, good for an 8-3-0-1 slate, the team is 4-4-2 on the road.
Next action for Kelowna is on Wednesday night in Spokane, the first meeting of the season between the conference rivals. The affair also marks the Rockets first meeting against its former head coach Dan Lambert, who signed with the Chiefs this past off-season.
