Kelowna’s top scorer has 4 points as team snaps 3 game losing skid
The Okanagan Sunday
When players are struggling, sometimes it takes a lucky goal to get them going again.
That was certainly the case for Kole Lind, who broke out of a 10-game goalless drought by scoring twice Saturday in leading the Kelowna Rockets to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
Lind’s first goal of the night, which stood up as the winner, was of the fluky variety. He simply chopped at the puck behind the goal-line, almost simultaneously as a Portland penaltykiller, but it took a home team bounce and somehow snuck past Winterhawks goaltender Cole Kehler for the go-ahead marker in the second period.
“Just throw it towards the net from everywhere, that’s what the coach said, so I threw it on net and I got a lucky one off the goalie’s back and in, but I’ll take it,” Lind said. “It had been awhile, so it felt good.”
Lind’s second — his team-leading 22nd of the season — was more of a goal-scorer’s goal, breaking in off the rush and snapping a shot short side on Kehler to make it 3-1 three minutes into the third period.
With that monkey off his pack, Lind seemed to find another gear in finishing with a four-point performance — also assisting on goals by Tomas Soustal and Braydyn Chizen, to open and close out the scoring.
“He had been pushing and had some opportunities where he put the puck off the bar,” Rockets head coach Jason Smith said of Lind’s slump.
“It’s obviously nice when guys score goals . . . and his opportunities will come if he plays the game the right way.”
The Rockets (27-17-4-0), as a whole, were playing to Smith’s liking against Portland and were rewarded in ending their threegame losing streak to open a four-game homestand.
“We played a better game tonight,” Smith said. “We lost the last few games by a goal, but we were struggling to be in the game. Tonight, we were involved in the game and did some good things. We were way closer to the structure that we want to play with and the compete level that we need.”
Poor goaltending was partially responsible for those setbacks, but Michael Herringer was solid Saturday in stopping 34 shots to earn his 20th win of the season.
“Herry was dialed in, he made some saves at big times for us and kept us with the lead for awhile and allowed us to really get momentum going,” Smith said. “He gave us the opportunity to get two goals up, and that’s what you need from your goalies.”
It was a step in the right direction, with Kelowna also hosting rival Kamloops on Friday, Portland again next Saturday and then the Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday, Feb. 1, before heading to Prince George for a twin bill with the B.C. Division-leading Cougars (33-13-3-0).
“That was a big win for us,” Lind said. “We were on a little bit of a skid there, but (Herringer) came up with some big saves throughout the game and we really pushed through, and we scored when we had the opportunities.
“To have this little bit of momentum going into next week, that will be huge. These are huge points coming up.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna scratched RW Reid Gardiner (upper-body), LW Nolan Foote (illness) and C Dillon Dube (illness) . . . . Kehler made 33 saves for the Winterhawks (22-21-1-2), who got their lone goal from import forward Joachim Blichfeld. Portland has lost five in a row, although its two previous defeats were in shootouts.