The previous three times the Kelowna Rockets and tri City Americans met prior to Wednesday’s tilt at Prospera Place, each was decided by one goal. In fact, two of the games required overtime.
Last night, the Rockets managed a 5-4 victory in front of 5,187 fans, earning a split of the season series between the Western Conference foes. Each team won twice on home ice. The teams combined for a total of 13 goals apiece during the four contests.
“It’s obviously great to win,” said Rockets head coach Jason Smith. “We didn’t play our best game tonight, but we did enough to win.”
At 6:29, the Rockets Connor Bruggen-Cate beat an Amerks defender to a long lead pass into the Tri City zone and drifted a shot past goaltender Beck Warm. Kole Lind and Kyle Topping were credited with the assists. For Lind, the helper stretched his point-scoring streak to six games.
The Rockets now boast a 19-2-1-1 record in games when they score first.
Carsen Twarynski scored a pair of goals before the first period ended, wrapped around an unassisted tally the Americans Nolan Yaremko.
Kelowna led 3-1 after 20 minutes.
In the second frame, Tri City hemmed in the Rockets on a two-man advantage and finally beat James Porter when Jordan Topping stuffed in a loose puck. It was his 19th of the season.
The Topping brothers, from Salt Spring Island, are currently the WHL’s highest scoring brother tandem this season. Kyle, 18, has 40 points (14 goals and 26 assists) in 38 games. In 36 games, Jordan, 20, has also collected 40 points on 19 goals and 21 assists.
The teams exploded with four quick goals early in the third stanza.
Parker AuCoin scored shorthanded 20 seconds in, his second shorty of the season against the Rockets at Prospera Place. Tri City took its first lead of the game at 2:55 when Brett Clayton snapped a shot past Porter from a sharp angle.
But the lead was short-lived as 47 seconds later, Nolan Foote snuck a one-timer Patrick Dea in the Amerks goal after Twarynski stole the puck behind the net and found Foote out front.
Less than a minute later, Bruggen-Cate scored the winner, drilling a rebound past Dea after Lind and Topping drove hard to the Amerks net and created a loose puck.
The goaltenders would hold the fort for the remaining 15 minutes.
Porter, who was named the Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week on Wednesday, made 24 saves on the night while the duo of Warm and Dea turned aside 31 shots.
“That’s junior hockey, right there,” Smith said. “The game changes in a hurry.”
“We gave up the shorthanded goal to start the period, which is a momentum builder for them. It’s a credit to the guys, the maturity and the growth in our group that we can handle a little turmoil.”
Of note on the night was the absence of four elite WHLers and another pair of key forwards. The Rockets Dillon Dube and Cal Foote are readying for the semi-final match against the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo on Thursday. Forward Erik Gardiner (concussion) has not played since late October.
As for the Americans, Juuso Valimaki has not yet returned to the team after Finland was eliminated from the WJC. And it has been reported that Michael Rasmussen has undergone surgery to repair his wrist and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Max James, 20, missed the game with a suspected wrist injury, and may not suit up this coming weekend in Prince George against the Cougars or in his hometown, Kamloops against the Blazers.
Rockets Fuel…The Rockets improved to 24-11-2-1 and has won 13 in a row at home… Three stars were Twarynski, Yaremko and Bruggen-Cate…Nolan Foote had three points…Next home game is Friday night at 7:05pm when the Seattle Thunderbirds visit Prospera Place.
Post-Game Interview: Connor Bruggen-Cate click here
Post-Game Interview: Jason Smith click here
Game Highlights: click here
(DUBNetwork thanks Kevin Bain and the Kelowna Rockets for the audio/video)
