Rockets fall to Blazers in OT

The Kelowna Rockets remained winless in WHL preseason play, dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the rival Blazers in Kamloops on Friday night.

Kelowna previously lost 6-5 in a shootout to Victoria and 4-2 to Prince George to start the exhibition schedule last weekend.

The Rockets host the Blazers in a rematch tonight, which will close out their preseason. Game time is 7 p.m. at Prospera Place in Kelowna.

At Kamloops, goaltender Roman Basran saw his first action of the preseason and was stellar in stopping 19 of 20 shots, including all 14 he faced in the first period as Kelowna led 2-0 after 20 minutes on goals from Erik Gardiner and Dallon Wilton, who got credit for the game’s opening goal after Kamloops scored on its own net.

Basran had not played since suffering a season-ending injury on Jan. 10, 2018. He was relieved by James Porter midway through Friday’s second period, as Kamloops rallied to within 3-2 through 40 minutes.

Nolan Foote, with a late power-play goal, kept Kelowna in front. It was his second goal in as many preseason appearances.

However, Kamloops would not be denied in netting the equalizer to force overtime, then getting the winning goal from defenceman Nolan Kneen on a 2-on-1 rush at 3:36 of the 3-on-3 tiebreaker.

There was more bad news for Kelowna, as sophomore forward Liam Kindree left the game in the second period and did not return, according to Blazers broadcaster Jon Keen, who tweeted it was an apparent shoulder injury from an open-ice hit.