Rockets blanked in Spokane
Kelowna unable to generate offence in 4-0 defeat to Chiefs
Reece Klassen pitched his first shutout as a member of the Spokane Chiefs, stopping all 25 shots the Kelowna Rockets could muster on Friday night.
Klassen’s efforts, with the help of two goals from Adam Beckman and singles from Jake McGrew and Nolan Reid, resulted in a 4-0 win for the host Chiefs (26-17-2-3).
For the Rockets (20-25-4-1), it marked the fifth time this season that they have been blanked.
Goaltenders James Porter and Roman Basran split the game for Kelowna, allowing two goals each. Porter started and stopped 13-of-15 shots over 36 minutes 49 seconds before being replaced by Basran, who blocked 15-of-17 over 23:11.
Klassen, who was acquired by Spokane from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Jan. 2, now has a 2-1-0-1 record with the Chiefs, including a .940 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average.
Klassen became available after Lethbridge landed Kelowna product Liam Hughes from the Seattle Thunderbirds on Jan. 1 in a goaltending shuffle ahead of the WHL’s Jan. 10 trade deadline.
The Rockets are back home tonight to face the rival Kamloops Blazers (20-25-3-1) — 7:05 p.m. at Prospera Place — in what should be a barnburner, with playoff positioning at stake in the first of five more head-to-head meetings.
Kelowna is just one point up on Kamloops for third place in the B.C. Division standings, with the Blazers holding a game in hand on the Rockets. Kelowna is also just one point ahead of Seattle for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Those three teams will be battling for two playoff berths down the stretch. Kelowna has 18 games remaining, Kamloops has 19 and Seattle has 20.
Looking upwards, the Rockets trail the second-place Victoria Royals (25-20-1-1) by seven points. Victoria also has three games in hand on Kelowna.
The Vancouver Giants (32-13-2-1) nearly have the division wrapped up with 20 games to go, leading the Royals by 15 points for first place.
BLAZERS 4, COUGARS 1
KAMLOOPS — Kyrell Sopotyk scored twice as the Blazers dealt Prince George its eighth loss in a row.
Orrin Centazzo and Brodi Stuart also scored for Kamloops (20-25-4), which got 26 saves from Dylan Ferguson.
Taylor Gauthier stopped 40-of-43 shots, while Vladislav Mikhalchuk netted the lone goal for the Cougars (16-28-5).
ROYALS 5, AMERICANS 2
VICTORIA — Blueliner Ralph Jarratt had a goal and an assist as the Royals toppled Tri-City.
Logan Doust, Igor Martynov, D-Jay Jerome and Tarun Fizer also scored for Victoria (2520-2) and Griffen Outhouse made 24 saves.
WINTERHAWKS 3, GIANTS 0
PORTLAND, Ore. — Shane Farkas stopped all 24 shots he faced as the Winterhawks halted Vancouver’s point streak at 10 games.
Reece Newkirk scored twice and Joachim Blichfeld had the other for Portland (31-14-5).
Trent Miner kicked out 26-of-28 shots for the Giants (32-13-3), who were 9-0-1 in their last 10.
SILVERTIPS 5, THUNDERBIRDS 2
KENT, Wash. — Bryce Kindopp’s third goal of the night at 6:42 of the third lifted Everett over Seattle for its third win in a row.
Andrej Kukuca and Matthew Wedman scored for the Thunderbirds (19-23-6).