Rockets fall 5-1 in Calgary to Hitmen

Kelowna drops to 1-2 on road trip, wraps up pre-Christmas schedule tonight in Medicine Hat

The Calgary Hitmen defeated the Kelowna Rockets 5-1 on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

The Hitmen opened the scoring 2:51 into the game when Egor Zamula fired one past Rockets starter James Porter.

The Rockets pulled even at the eight-minute mark when Nolan Foote took off up the ice on a 2-on-1, dishing the puck off to Didsbury, Alta., product Kyle Crosbie, who converted the pass for his fifth goal of the season.

Calgary’s Jake Kryski, a former Rocket who is now an over-ager in the WHL, put the Hitmen back on top at 17:26 of the first period as the hosts took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

Kryski’s goal, his 15th of the season, stood up as the game-winner.

In the second period, a Rockets defender turned over the puck in front of their net to Calgary’s Kaden Elder, who fed Riley Stotts for his ninth of the season to make it 3-1 just 2:01 into the middle frame.

In the third period, Kryski, with his 16th and second of the night, tacked on an insurance marker during a 5-on-3 power play at 13:30. Rounding out the scoring for Calgary was rookie forward Ryder Korczak — the younger brother of Rockets defenceman Kaedan Korczak — who netted his fifth of the season with only 38 seconds remaining by potting a rebound.

The Rockets (15-17-2-0) fell to 1-2 on this road trip — previously beating Kootenay but losing to Lethbridge — and will wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule tonight in Medicine Hat against the Tigers (17-14-1-2).