Rockets hang 7 on Hurricanes for 7th straight home victory
Special to The Okanagan Weekend
It was déjà vu all over again at Prospera Place — at least through 20 minutes!
The Kelowna Rockets (12-6-2-1) followed the same script it produced just three nights ago against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
On Friday evening, with the Lethbridge Hurricanes providing the opposition, the Rockets got an early jump again, scoring twice in the first two minutes.
Rookie forward Liam Kindree tipped in a Cal Foote point shot 40 seconds into the tilt to get the Rockets on the board. Then Leif Mattson turned a sloppy giveaway by the Hurricanes in the defending zone into a power-play goal to make it 2-0 only 2:08 into the game.
“We’ve gone through a stretch of games here at home where we scored early in most of them, said Rockets head coach Jason Smith. “It’s a good momentum-builder for our group.”
On a night when leading scorer Kole Lind did not dress due to illness, the Rockets put seven pucks past the Hurricanes goaltender Stuart Skinner. The offensive outburst — a 7-4 victory — was a welcome result.
“We’ve talked about it all year,” Smith said. “The more contributions you get from your group in the depth in your lineup, chances are your team is doing well.
“When you can rely on everybody and they’re creating opportunities, it’s great.”
The ’Canes countered the Rockets’ early onslaught with a late first-period tally by Jake Elmer, then added two goals by Giorgio Estephan in the second stanza to take a 3-2 lead.
Estephan, who was playing in his 300th career WHL game, must have felt some measure of redemption on the night.
The last time Lethbridge played here, he suffered a broken ankle. In fact, that injury occurred on Feb. 2, 2016, the night before his 19th birthday.
But despite its one-goal advantage, Lethbridge (7-11-1) could not contain the Rockets’ team speed.
At 9:56 of the middle frame, Dillon Dube sped into the ’Canes zone, beat defenceman Calen Addison to the outside, drove the net and slid the puck between Skinner’s pads.
Five minutes later, the Rockets took a 4-3 lead.
Mattson gained the ’Canes blue line and sent a crisp pass through traffic into the slot where Kyle Topping redirected the puck high past Skinner’s outstretched glove.
Lethbridge equalized at 3:58 of the third period when Jordy Bellerive’s shot from the high slot hit Rockets goalie James Porter in the chest, then bounced off a defender into the net.
However, Kelowna scored a pair of goals 1:36 apart to ice the contest.
Cal Foote knocked down a Lethbridge clearing attempt and fed Dube, who beat Skinner low stick side. Then James Hilsendager sent a rising point shot past Skinner at 12:28 to make the score 6-4.
Connor Bruggen-Cate added an emptynetter.
The Rockets have won four in a row and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
Kelowna swept this four-game homestand — previously beating Edmonton, Red Deer and Vancouver — and extended its home winning streak to seven games, which includes prior victories over Prince George, Tri-City and Portland.
Cal Foote, who collected four assists against Lethbridge, likes what he has seen of late.
“We had that tough stint with the fivegame losing streak (from Oct. 13 to Oct. 20),” the team captain said. “We’re headed in a great direction right now. Some younger guys are stepping up. I’m very, very pleased with the club and I’m excited about what we can bring the rest of the season.”
ICE CHIPS: Shots on goal were 34-34 . . . . Announced attendance was 5,128 . . . . Three stars were Dube, Cal Foote, Estephan. . . . Topping had three points . . . . Kindree has a point in five straight games . . . . Kelowna was 2-for-4 on the power play . . . . Scratches were Kelvin Hair, Konrad Belcourt, Erik Gardiner, Kole Lind, Kyle Pow, Brodan Salmond . . . . The Rockets have won seven straight at Prospera Place . . . . Next home game is Saturday, Nov. 25 at 7:05 p.m. against the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Elsewhere in the WHL on Friday night, the B.C. Division-leading Victoria Royals stayed four points ahead of the Rockets by edging the Spokane Chiefs 1-0 in Kailer Yamamoto’s home debut after recently being sent back to Spokane by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Victoria defenceman Jared Freadrich scored the game’s lone goal with only 1:06 left in the third period. The Royals outshot the Chiefs 24-19.