With a dozen games still remaining in the WHL乌鸦传媒檚 regular season, it may be premature to call Friday乌鸦传媒檚 game in Kamloops a must-win for the Kelowna Rockets.
Still, the two points loom large if the Rockets plan on chasing down both the Blazers and Prince George Cougars in the B.C. Division.
The Rockets (35-20-5-0) trail the first-place Cougars by six points and second-place Kamloops by five points, with Kelowna holding two games in hand on both rivals.
The Rockets have yet to win at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops this season (0-4-0), a trend captain Rodney Southam said his club needs to remedy on Friday.
乌鸦传媒淲e haven乌鸦传媒檛 performed in Kamloops yet, so we have to prove to ourselves we can win in that place,乌鸦传媒� said Southam. 乌鸦传媒淚 think it乌鸦传媒檚 big to get the first goal in that rink, it乌鸦传媒檚 always difficult to come back, they have a great goaltender as well.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e got to play with the lead and we乌鸦传媒檝e got to push everything, all four lines need to be going against that team.乌鸦传媒�
Few teams have given the Rockets as much consternation this season as the Blazers who, led often by goaltender Connor Ingram, have taken six of nine meetings this season from Kelowna.
While head coach Jason Smith agrees scoring first would be advantageous for the Rockets, even more important is remaining composed and focused, regardless of the situation.
乌鸦传媒淪coring the first goal might be key but the big thing is we just have to stick with our game plan,乌鸦传媒� said Smith. 乌鸦传媒淲e can乌鸦传媒檛 get off the beaten path if we generate some chances and don乌鸦传媒檛 score. You can乌鸦传媒檛 do what we call 乌鸦传媒榗heat the game乌鸦传媒� if you don乌鸦传媒檛 score, you can乌鸦传媒檛 make fancy plays and get out of the structure.
乌鸦传媒淚f we stick with our game plan and play as a team and a group, I think we乌鸦传媒檒l give ourselves a real good opportunity to win the game.乌鸦传媒�
It乌鸦传媒檚 the last of 10 regular season games against the Blazers and the first of a challenging three-game in three-day weekend road trip for Kelowna.
The Rockets will be in Kent, WA on Saturday to face the Seattle Thunderbirds, followed by a visit to the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 going to be a busy weekend, a lot of travel, we have to get our sleep, but hopefully we乌鸦传媒檒l grab two out of three of those,乌鸦传媒� Southam added.
乌鸦传媒淓ach game is huge, it乌鸦传媒檚 so tight in the Western Conference, every game matters, every points matters. We gotta start pushing towards playoffs and be thinking about it every day.乌鸦传媒�
Southam scored his second career hat-trick on Wednesday night in the Rockets乌鸦传媒� 10-1 drubbing of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Kelowna, which has won eight of its last 10 games, set new season highs for goals scored in a game and third-period goals, with six.
The Rockets next home action is next Wednesday, March 4 against the Prince George Cougars.
