Successful weekend for OK Rockets

The Okanagan Rockets picked up three of a possible four points against the Valley West Hawks on the weekend, winning Saturday’s opener and earning a tie in Sunday’s rematch.

On Saturday, the Rockets scored the first goal of the game early in the second period, when captain Mitchell Gove beat Hawks goaltender Josh Dias under the blocker arm for a 1-0 lead.

Fresh off a penalty kill in the third, Jordan Lowry tapped an Ethan Schaeffer pass by Dias for a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes.

But the Hawks pushed back and got within one with under six minutes to play, thanks to leading scorer Arshdeep Bains.

That’s as close as Valley West would get, as the Rockets held on for the 2-1 win.

On Sunday, the Rockets once again took control early on, but this time got on the board in the first period.

Will Reimer tipped his third goal of the season past Sunday starter Jayden Shull with under two minutes left in the opening frame, putting the Rockets up 1-0.

The teams then traded goals in the final minute of the second period.

Rockets rookie Chase Dafoe made it 2-0 with 53 seconds left, but Hawks forward Dawson Penner beat the buzzer with a one-timer past Cole Schwebius, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with just with 0.4 seconds on the clock.

In the third, Valley West’s offence finally awoke after being dormant for the previous five periods.

After the Rockets restored their two-goal lead just 18 seconds in — thanks to a nice solo effort from Ben King, making it 3-1 — the Hawks returned fire about five minutes later.

Cameron MacDonald scored by swatting in the puck, then defenceman Kabir Gill blasted home the tying goal less than three minutes later.

But Gove gave the Rockets another lead, at 4-3, just before the halfway point.

Again, the Hawks had an answer, with rookie Justin Sourdif netting the equalizer with 5:11 to play before MacDonald scored his second of the game just 25 seconds later to give Valley West its first lead of the weekend.

However, the Rockets hadn’t run out of magic just yet.

After Dias re-entered the game in goal for the final 1:39 of the third, the Rockets pulled Schwebius to gain the 6-on-5 advantage.

With time nearly expiring, King wired a wrist shot that beat Dias to the blocker side with just 0.3 seconds left, sending each team to overtime for the first time this season.

Despite chances at both ends, neither team cracked during the five minutes of 3-on-3, earning each side a point in the 5-5 tie.

The Rockets’ record is 7-6-1, good for sixth in the B.C. Major Midget League standings.