Rockets ready for Rebels after Giant encounter
Over-age winger nets winner as Kelowna edges visiting Vancouver
For the better part of the past five seasons, Prospera Place has been an absolute graveyard for the Vancouver Giants.
Entering Friday’s game, the Kelowna Rockets had won 12 straight regular-season home against the Giants.
Make it 13 in a row now, thanks to the Rockets’ exhilarating 5-4 overtime win. With the loss, Vancouver has not won in Kelowna since earning a 4-3 decision on March 19, 2011.
“In the room after the game, we talked about trying to play complete games and playing with structure,” said Rockets coach Jason Smith. “We weren’t very good with that, but we won the game and we’ll be better (tonight against Red Deer).”
If it wasn’t the kind of game that excites a coaching staff, the 5,037 fans in attendance certainly couldn’t want more entertainment on a night where — despite the nine-goal outburst — goaltenders James Porter and Todd Scott were among the best players on the ice.
For Porter, who has started 10 of the last 13 games, he continues to make timely saves.
“There were lots of scoring chances at both ends,” Smith said. “We gave up too many grade-A opportunities and forced our goalie to make too many saves.
“But we created chances offensively. It would be nice to capitalize a bit more, but that’s a credit to their goaltending. We need to be sharper on the finishing.”
The teams combined for five power-play goals and one shorthanded tally on a night the Rockets took six of 11 minor penalties.
Gordie Ballhorn opened the scoring when he took a pass from Liam Kindree and rifled a shot from the blue line through traffic at the 13:53 mark — just 10 seconds after Brad Morrison was thumbed for goaltender interference.
Vancouver evened the score at 16:46 with Carsen Twarynski in the penalty box for tripping. Ty Ronning buried a one-timer past Porter after some crisp puck movement. With Twarynski off again, for kneeing, the Giants struck at 19:07 when Tyler Benson one-timed a pass from Alex Kannock-Leipert.
Trailing 2-1, Porter kept things within reach for much of the second period, fending off the Giants until Leif Mattson scored at 17:35. Dillon Dube and Cal Foote worked the puck to Mattson, who sent a screened shot passed Scott. It was Mattson’s sixth goal in nine games. The third frame produced an edge-of-your-seat 20 minutes.
Vancouver went ahead at 4:45 when Morrison batted a puck past Porter for what would be the Giants’ lone even-strength goal.
At 7:29, on what may have been the true turning point, Kole Lind drove to the Giants’ net while shorthanded and shoved the puck into the crease. As Kannonk-Leipert and James Malm chased Lind, they collided with Scott, pushing the puck across the goal line. It was Lind’s 10th goal of the campaign and a big-time individual effort.
Then at 11:46 on the power play, Connor Bruggen-Cate took a pass from James Hilsendager, carried the puck deep into the Giants’ zone, then forced a wrister past Scott along the ice from a sharp angle to put the Rockets ahead 4-3.
At 16:36, Benson controlled the puck at the Rockets’ blue line on another man advantage, moved around Lind at the top of the face-off circle and wired a wrist shot past Porter to knot things at 4-4.
In overtime, Twarynski attoned for his first-period infractions, converting a 2-on-1 pass from Cal Foote at 2:07 to send the Rockets’ faithful into a frenzy.
The Rockets host the Red Deer Rebels tonight, with puck drop at 7:05 p.m.