Kelowna Rockets play host tonight to Edmonton Oil Kings
The Kelowna Rockets continue their four-game homestand tonight, hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings at Prospera Place. Puck drop is 7:05 p.m. Coming off back-to-back home wins on Friday and Saturday against Vancouver and Red Deer — prevailing 5-4 in overtime over the Giants and 5-2 over the Rebels, respectively — assistant coach Kris Mallette wants the Rockets to keep building on their recent home performances.
“During our recent success at home we’ve found a way to win, albeit some of our games haven’t been pretty, but nonetheless we’ve gotten timely saves or scored a big goal,” said Mallette, with the Rockets on a five-game winning streak at Prospera Place — also beating the Prince George Cougars 5-2, the Tri-City Americans 4-3 in overtime and the Portland Winterhawks 7-2 back on Oct. 21.
“Our message is to compete for 60 minutes regardless, and lately our team has been doing that,” added Mallette.
Much like Red Deer, Edmonton isn’t a team the Rockets face very often. Mallette says the game plan is similar.
“We’ll watch video of their last few games to get an idea of what their tendencies may be, but our focus primarily will be about how we play,” said Mallette. “We’ll then put a game plan together and it becomes up to the players to execute — and when they do, we’re a hard team to play against.”
This is the first meeting of the season between these two teams, with the Rockets sweeping the 2016-17 season series — posting a perfect 3-0-0-0 record against the Oil Kings.
Kelowna enters tonight with a record of 10-6-2-1, holding strong in second place in the B.C. Division with 23 points — three points ahead of Vancouver, but six back of the first-place Victoria Royals.
Edmonton comes in with a record of 5-122-0 for 12 points, which is last among the 12 teams in the Eastern Conference and sixth in the Central Division — two points back of the Calgary Hitmen.
The Rockets close out this homestand on Friday by hosting a third straight Central Division opponent in the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Kelowna then visits the Giants — who now play out of Langley — on Saturday to begin a three-game road trip that features two tilts with Vancouver, separated by the Rockets’ first meeting with the Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 22.
Spokane is coached by Dan Lambert, who led Kelowna to the 2015 WHL championship, and the Chiefs were recently bolstered by the addition of Kailer Yamamoto from the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
Tonight will mark Tomas Soustal’s return to Kelowna, having been traded by the Rockets to the Oil Kings on Oct. 2 for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft.
Soustal, an over-age forward from the Czech Republic, has produced 17 points in 14 games since joining Edmonton.