Tough weekend on horizon for red-hot Rockets

Kelowna visits Kamloops before hosting Victoria for 1st-place showdown

The Kelowna Rockets have a two-game weekend against B.C. Division rivals, starting tonight in Kamloops with a rematch against the Blazers.

Coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over the Blazers on Wednesday — in a game that saw Kamloops outshoot Kelowna 47-22, but the Rockets extend their WHL-best home winning streak to 11 games — assistant coach Travis Crickard says there are a few minor adjustments to be made to continue their recent success, both tonight in Kamloops and on Saturday when the Rockets host the Victoria Royals in a 7:05 p.m. puck-drop at Prospera Place.

“We need to shoot the puck more, hit the net on the power play, work harder on the forecheck, and get engaged as a unit when taking faceoffs,” Crickard said. “Every game against a divisional opponent is a big game.”

The Rockets and Blazers have already met three times this season, with Kelowna winning all three. The Rockets opened the season with back-to-back victories over the Blazers, 6-2 at Prospera Place and 5-1 in Kamloops the following night.

Saturday marks the fourth meeting between the Rockets (21-11-2-0) and Royals (21-14-3-0) in what will be a first-place showdown for the division lead and possibly top spot in the Western Conference standings as well.

The Royals have won two of three games to date, including an 8-3 rout in their first meeting at Prospera Place on Oct. 4. The Rockets then split a doubleheader in Victoria, winning the opener 4-2 on Nov. 3 before losing by the same score the next night.

ICE CHIPS: The Blazers enter tonight with a 16-17-0-2 record for 34 points and fourth place in the division . . . . The Rockets are playing without Cal Foote, their captain and top defenceman, and Dillon Dube, their top centre and assistant captain. They are in Buffalo, N.Y., representing Canada at the World Junior Championship. With Dube captaining the squad, Canada is currently 2-0-0-0 in round-robin play after defeating Slovakia 6-0 on Wednesday and Finland 4-2 on Tuesday. Canada plays again today at noon PT, facing off against the United States in the first-ever WJC outdoor game.