Rockets looking to ignite road trip against visiting Hitmen
On a crispy Friday the 13th in the Okanagan Valley, the horrors associated with some bad puck luck may have sealed the Kelowna Rockets’ fate against a game Calgary Hitmen team.
Primarily, it was Calgary goaltender Nick Schneider, the man behind the mask who was most responsible for the outcome, a 4-3 decision that dropped the Rockets to 4-2-0-1 on the season.
“It would have been nice to leave here tonight with a win,” said Rockets coach Jason Smith. “We did some good things in the offensive zone for parts of the game, but we have to be a little harder, a little dirtier in the scoring area to win those puck battles and loose pucks.”
Both teams set a brisk pace early. In fact, the first whistle of the game came at 4:36, when Mark Kastelic stuffed a bouncing puck past Brodan Salmond to put the Hitmen up 1-0. The goal marked the only time this season Kelowna has surrendered the first goal of the game.
The Rockets evened the score at 10:33 when Kyle Topping deftly sprung Kole Lind into the Calgary zone.
As the Rockets’ leading scorer drove the net, his centering pass deflected off Nolan Foote’s skate at the crease and trickled past Schneider.
In the second stanza, the Rockets peppered the Hitmen goal with 12 shots in the first 10 minutes. Schneider, who signed with the Calgary Flames as a free agent, turned them all aside, including point-blank efforts by Lind, Topping and Dillon Dube.
When Calgary finally registered a shot on goal halfway through the period, they broke the deadlock.
Rookie forward Hunter Campbell won a puck battle at the Rockets blueline, skated into the faceoff circle and blew a wrister past Salmond. Two minutes later at 13:26, Calgary went up by a pair when Vladislav Yeryomenko gained the Rockets’ zone and ripped a shot on goal. Salmond could not contain the puck and Vancouver Canucks’ draft pick Jakob Stukel shoved the puck into an open net.
The Rockets finally solved Schneider at 14:57. Lind beat defenceman Layne Toder to the puck in the neutral zone and fed Topping as he streaked into the Hitmen zone. The second-year centre beat Schneider cleanly, high to the stick side for his third of the season to narrow the gap to 3-2.
“There was lots of rebounds there and we didn’t capitalize on them,” Smith said of the second-period onslaught. “We created opportunities and spent time in the offensive zone and possessed the puck. I think there were times for us to put the puck in the net when the goalie was out of position. We didn’t hang around enough and when you don’t do that, you don’t score goals.”
Calgary extended its lead to 4-2 at 11:49 of the third frame when Cael Zimmerman beat Salmond along the ice for his first WHL goal, the eventual game winner.
The Rockets made it close at 13:39. Jack Cowell took a pass from Topping and sped in alone on Schneider, deked and buried the puck for his fourth of the campaign.
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna outshot Calgary 34-26 . . . . Three stars were Schneider, Lind, Stukel . . . . Announced attendance was 5,221. . . . Topping collected three points on the night . . . . The Rockets are 1-2-0-1 at home and 3-0 on the road . . . . The Rockets traveled overnight to Portland for games today and Sunday, then Tuesday in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri City Americans . . . . Next home games are Oct. 20-21 against the Portland Winterhawks.