The Kelowna Rockets have a tall task at hand in the second round of the WHL playoffs.
After beating the Wenatchee Wild in the first round, the Rockets will take on the top team in the Western Conference, the Prince George Cougars.
The Rockets beat Wenatchee in six games to advance while the Cougars, coming off of a 102-point regular season, swept the Spokane Chiefs in the first round.
ѻýIt was an exciting first round, we faced some adversity which I think was good for our group,ѻý said Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen. ѻýEspecially going in against Prince George, we needed to learn how to battle back and be in those kind of situations where weѻýre down but not out.ѻý
Prince George dominated the regular season series against the Rockets as they went 6-1-0-1.
ѻýWe know the Cougars, weѻýve played them a lot this year,ѻý said Michael Cicek. ѻýI think to be successful, we really have to dial in our systems and shut them down through the neutral zone. Weѻýve got to minimize our turnovers, thatѻýs big because theyѻýre a huge transition team. If we capitalize on our chances and do everything to minimize their chances, I think weѻýre going to have success.ѻý
The two teams were the two highest-scoring teams in the regular season and each has two NHL prospects: Andrew Cristall (Washington Capitals) and Gabriel Szturc (Tampa Bay Lightning) for the Rockets and Zac Funk (Washington Capitals) and Riley Heidt (Minnesota Wild) for the Cougars.
Game one of the best-of-seven series goes on Friday night (Apr. 12) at CN Centre in Prince George at 7 p.m. The schedule for the series is as follows:
Game #1: Friday, April 12 @ CN Centre (7:00 PM)
Game #2: Saturday, April 13 @ CN Centre (7:00 PM)
Game #3: Tuesday, April 16 @ Prospera Place (7:05 PM PST)
Game #4: Wednesday, April 17 @ Prospera Place (7:05 PM PST)
*Game #5: Friday, April 19 @ CN Centre (7:00 PM)
*Game #6: Sunday, April 21 @ Prospera Place (2:05 PM PST)
*Game #7: Tuesday, April 23 @ CN Centre (7:00 PM)
(Bold indicates Rockets at home, * indicates if necessary)
Single-game tickets for the Kelowna Rocketsѻý first two home games are on sale at or the Prospera Place box office.
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