Rockets dress for success, undressing Blazers 4-0

The Kelowna Rockets dressed for success on Saturday and proceeded to hang a 4-0 drubbing on the Kamloops Blazers at Prospera Place.

It was an important and timely victory, on a night when the organization took its turn as hosts for the WHL Suits Up with Don Cherry to promote organ donation. Attired nattily in unique Cherry-esque designed uniforms, the Rockets earned its 40th win of the season.

“We played a pretty solid game,” said Rockets head coach Jason Smith. “We stuck with it and kept the game fairly simple. When we got a couple of goals up, we didn’t start chasing the game, which allowed us to stay ahead.”

The Rockets entered the weekend home-and-home set with the Blazers on the heels of a five-game losing streak. What had been a comfortable lead atop the B.C. division for much of January and February, became precarious during the winless skid. However, the back-to-back wins over Kamloops created some breathing room.

Kelowna’s 4-2 win in Kamloops on Friday mathematically eliminated the Blazers from playoff contention and the Rockets quick start on Saturday appeared to dishearten the visitors.

Leif Mattson with his 22nd of the season at 13:28 and Gordie Ballhorn’s fourth just 62 seconds later, staked the Rockets to a 2-0 lead.

“It’s obviously nice to get off to a good start and play with the lead,” Smith said. “Some of the ups and downs we’ve gone through lately, it’s proof how important it is to start the game well and give yourself a chance. But then you also have to be able to stick with it and play a complete game.”

The Rockets would deliver that complete effort, adding a pair of goals 1:19 apart midway through third period. Mattson, with his third shorthanded tally of the season and Dillon Dube with is 34th closed out the scoring in front of 5,607 spectators.

“I thought we played a good, full, 60 minutes tonight,” Mattson said. “We did the little things right and kept the puck out of our net. If you do that, you’re going to win the game. We had a stretch there where we weren’t playing the game we wanted.

I think the last couple of games, we’ve done a good job of playing a team game, not worrying about the individual accolades and stuff like that. We’re starting to play playoff hockey, which is what we need to do down the stretch here.”

With the win, Kelowna improved to 40-22-5-2, good for 87 points, with 20-percent (8-0-0-0) of those victories coming against Kamloops.

“Any time you’re playing a team that’s eliminated, you see it at all leagues, it’s a hard game,” Smith said. “Guys are out there trying to make an impression for the future and sometimes if you don’t put the effort in, you get yourself in trouble. We knew that we had to be ready to play, ready to compete.”

For his part, Smith was satisfied with the effort, yet he knows the group has plenty of work to do with the post-season looming.

“Tonight was better and after the game we talked about that we still have some growth and a way to go to get back to doing things the right way and making sure that we’re ready to play complete games heading into the playoffs. We did things a lot better for most of the game. It’s a good step forward from the ups and downs we’ve had over the past three weeks.”

The Rockets’ successful weekend, combined with the Victoria Royals 4-3 win over Prince George on Sunday, sets the stage for Kelowna’s next home game. With a win over the Cougars at Prospera Place on Wednesday, the Rockets will clinch first place in the B.C. division and home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

ICE CHIPS…Kelowna outshot Kamloops, 31-18… The Rockets were 0-for-3 on the power play. The Blazers went 0-for-7…Three stars were Mattson, Ballhorn and Porter... Scratches were James Hilsendager, Wil Kushniryk, Kyle Pow, Nolan Foote and Roman Basran…The Rockets are now 24-7-1-2 at home, 30-6-3-2 when scoring first, 31-3-1-1 when leading after two periods and 20-7-2 against the B.C. division…The win over Kamloops runs the Rockets streak of 40-win seasons to six straight, dating back to the 2012-13 campaign…Liam Kindree was stopped by Blazers goaltender Max Palaga on a penalty shot in the second period. The Rockets have failed to convert on all four of its penalty shot opportunities this season. Opponents have been awarded four penalty shots against Kelowna this season and have scored three times…Blazers defenceman Joe Gatenby skated in his final WHL game at Prospera Place. The 20-year-old Kelowna native, in his second season with Kamloops, appeared in his 372nd WHL game, 226 of those as a member of the Rockets.