The didn乌鸦传媒檛 earn too many points for style. But with a challenging week laying in wait, escaping Prince George with a pair of victories just might carry some added value for Jason Smith乌鸦传媒檚 club down the road.
Kelowna (4-1-0-1) will host the Calgary Hitmen (1-4-1-0) Friday, before heading to Oregon for games on Saturday and Sunday against the Portland Winterhawks. Then Tuesday, it乌鸦传媒檚 off to Kennewick, Wash., to see the Tri-City Americans, the Rockets乌鸦传媒� fourth game in a five-night span.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e starting by playing a hungry team (Calgary) that乌鸦传媒檚 been a little slow out of the gates,乌鸦传媒� said Rockets乌鸦传媒� assistant coach Kris Mallette. 乌鸦传媒淭hen we get on a bus and drive through the night to Portland to play two games against a good, fast, young team that a lot of people are picking to come out of the conference.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 going to be a good test for our guys, that乌鸦传媒檚 what we want. We乌鸦传媒檙e going to learn a lot about ourselves.乌鸦传媒�
The Rockets needed overtime in both wins over the Cougars last weekend. Battling back from a two-goal deficit four times on Friday night, Kole Lind supplied the decisive goal for Kelowna in a
乌鸦传媒淚t showed the resiliency of our team,乌鸦传媒� said Mallette. 乌鸦传媒淭here was a feeling on the bench from the coaches that the players knew they could win that game.
乌鸦传媒淲as it pretty ? No乌鸦传媒ut there aren乌鸦传媒檛 pictures on the stat sheet. The guys battled and got it done.乌鸦传媒�
, the Rockets jumped out to a two-goal lead, then had to rely on rookie goalie James Porter to keep them in the game. Porter stopped 42 of 45 shots乌鸦传媒攊ncluding 22 in the second period乌鸦传媒攑aving the way for the Rockets to overcome a 3-2, third-period deficit and setting the stage for Dillon Dube乌鸦传媒檚 OT winner.
乌鸦传媒淲e came out the way we wanted and got the lead but then absolutely sat on it,乌鸦传媒� Mallette said. 乌鸦传媒淲e had a rookie goaltender do a fantastic job for us and we had some other unsung heroes, like Konrad Belcourt (game-tying goal), who really stepped up and played some key minutes.
乌鸦传媒淲e did some good things in stretches and not in others, but we just stuck with it. It乌鸦传媒檚 not the way you draw it up, but we乌鸦传媒檒l certainly take those four points.乌鸦传媒�
The Rockets head into the weekend down three players due to injury. Forwards Leif Mattson and Conner Bruggen-Cate, and defenceman Braydyn Chizen are all sidelined on a week-to-week basis.
Face off Friday night at Prospera Place between the Rockets and Hitmen is 7 p.m.
whenderson@kelownacapnews.com
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