Weekend win against Portland boosts confidence of Kelowna Rockets
Kelowna races out to 3-0 lead in 7-2 victory over visiting Portland to salvage weekend split
There had been a fair bit of negativity swirling around the Kelowna Rockets lately.
Losers of five straight and four in a row at home, with some suspect goaltending along the way, the Rockets responded this weekend and looked — for one night at least — like they belonged on the same ice as the CHL’s top-ranked team.
From start to finish Saturday, Kelowna looked like the club many were anticipating this season in blitzing the Portland Winterhawks and backup goalie Shane Farkas, building up a 3-0 lead and cruising to a 7-2 victory at Prospera Place in front of 4,774 fans.
“It was great to see the guys bounce back and compete for a complete game,” said Rockets head coach Jason Smith. “We competed better in our (defensive) zone, we were quicker to close out guys and get the puck moving out of our zone. In the (offensive) zone, we kept putting the puck to the net and we had traffic at the net tonight, which really helps.”
“We’ve had a rough stretch here and a lot of guys aren’t feeling well, but tonight we just stuck to our game and played simple and played short-shift hockey and it paid off for us,” added Saturday’s first star Carsen Twarynski, who was among those under the weather.
Twarynski netted a hat trick, Kelowna’s leading scorer Kole Lind enjoyed a four-point performance, the Rockets’ power play was potent in finishing 4-for-5 and, most importantly, 17-year-old rookie netminder James Porter turned in his third straight quality start to earn the first home win of his WHL career.
“James was really good again tonight,” said Smith. “He competes and he made saves at times in the game where it really kept us moving in the right direction. When you get a big save, when maybe there’s a mistake or a turnover . . . it gives you a chance to build momentum.
“We’ve talked about our goaltending and our goalies giving us an opportunity to win games. If we get saves and our guys compete, we can play with any team in the league.”
Coming off a 45-save, first-star showing in a losing effort Friday — when the Rockets fell 3-1 to the Winterhawks, who tacked on an empty-net goal to spoil his heroics — Porter was stellar again Saturday, stopping 34 shots for second-star honours in handing Portland just its second loss of the campaign.
“They’re a tough team, one of the best in the league, so we had to work hard each night. Tonight, we were the better team,” said Porter, who was also solid in Tuesday’s 2-1 setback against the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash. “I just had to keep my team in it and do whatever I could to keep the puck out of the net.”
Cal Foote opened the scoring for the Rockets just 47 seconds into Saturday’s game, with a harmless-looking point shot that changed directions on the way to the net and eluded Winterhawks goaltender Shane Farkas.
First shift. First shot. Good start — and away they went.
Twarynski kept the momentum going by scoring on a breakaway at 4:31, deking five-hole and slipping the puck between Farkas’ legs for a 2-0 lead. Lind — who had sprung Twarynski and also set up Foote, with primary assists on the first two goals — found the back of the net at 14:47 by firing high glove on Farkas. That power-play goal came with two seconds left in Kelowna’s first man advantage of the game, following some impressive puck movement and sustained pressure in the offensive zone.
Smith and the coaching staff couldn’t have drew it up any better for the first period — especially with Porter looking sharp at the other end, stopping all 12 shots, including an in-close chance by Portland’s leading goalgetter Skyler McKenzie.
“Obviously it’s nice to play with the lead,” said Smith. “Our group needed to have a start like that tonight, where we got ahead and had some energy out of the start. We kept playing and gave ourselves a chance by doing things the right way.”
For a change, the Rockets weren’t playing on their heels and fearing the worst — that any shot could end up in the back of their net.
“We’ve been chasing the last week and a half,” Twarynski said of facing early deficits, including 3-0 holes after the first period in both games at Portland the previous weekend — resulting in a 5-4 overtime loss and an 8-2 blowout. “It’s definitely nice to get a lead for once, especially a three-goal lead. And with James playing how he is, it gives us more confidence to play a little on our toes.
“It’s a confidence thing and tonight was big for us, to beat a team like Portland that embarrassed us three times in a row.”
In the second period, Porter appeared to rob Cody Glass with a back-door glove save that would have topped the highlight-reels.
However, the refs went upstairs and the video goal judge determined Porter’s glove was behind the line when he snared Glass’ shot, resulting in Portland cutting the deficit to 3-1 at 2:39.
Undeterred, the Rockets surged again and made quick work of their second power play, with Twarynski scoring his second goal of the game at 9:30 on a tap-in from the top of the crease after a tic-tac-toe passing sequence.
Nolan Foote got in on the fun at 12:24, getting behind Portland’s defence and beating Farkas to blow the game open at 5-1 through 40 minutes.
The teams traded power-play goals early in the third period, with Twarynski completing his hat trick for Kelowna — roofing a short-side shot on Farkas at 2:26 — after Henri Jokiharju scored for Portland at 1:25 on a gift at the side of the net that Porter had no chance on.
Leif Mattson later rounded out the scoring with another power-play marker at 13:50, netting his first goal of the campaign in his second game since returning from a lowerbody injury sustained in Kelowna’s season opener.
Farkas, a Penticton product who previously played for the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors, went the distance for the Winterhawks (9-20-0), surrendering six goals on 36 shots.
Twarynski’s goals were his fourth, fifth and sixth of the season for the Rockets’ over-age forward.
“That’s a big goal of mine, to produce more as a 20-year-old,” said Twarynski, a thirdround pick for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2016 who is trying to earn a professional contract this season. “That’s what Philadelphia wants me to do too, is to produce more, and I think getting a hat trick early on in the season is a big confidence-booster. Not that I lacked it before, but it’s definitely going to help me.”
The Rockets needed more from Twarynski and he rose to the occasion, upping his point total to 11 in nine games since being sent back to junior by Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate.
“Carsen has to be a guy that we rely on to lead and obviously compete and play at a high level every game. That’s what we expect of him,” said Smith. “I think he’s been a little bit disappointed with some of the games he’s had up to this point, and now we need to build from tonight’s game. Tonight is a good starting point for him, where he can push forward.”
The Rockets (5-5-1-1) were full marks for Saturday’s triumph, a much-needed win ahead of hosting Tri-City and Prince George to conclude this four-game homestand before heading to Victoria for another difficult doubleheader.
“Honestly, right now, we’re not worried about anything but the next game at hand,” said Smith. “We’ve got an opportunity this week to have some good practices, to really work on our game and cover everything, and come Friday night we want to be ready to play. We’ve got a great challenge that night in another good team (Tri-City).”
Any pressure that Kelowna’s players and coaches may have been feeling — as it mounted in the community — has been relieved.
The Rockets can regroup and play with less stress going forward, knowing Porter is proving capable between the pipes in place of injured incumbent Brodan Salmond, who had been struggling in his recent appearances — allowing three or more goals in five straight starts and getting pulled twice over that span.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Twarynski said of Porter. “With Brodes not being here right now, James has stepped up tremendously and props to him for that.”
Twarynski, who joined the Rockets at last season’s trade deadline in January, wasn’t sweating their lacklustre 4-4-1-1 start prior to this weekend, also knowing Kelowna was 3-7-0-0 out of the gates last fall before gaining traction and still managing to win 45 games — not to mention making it to the third round of playoffs for the fourth straight year.
“It’s a lot of adversity to handle, but it’s early in the season and we know that,” said Twarynski. “The guys that were on the team last year, I wasn’t there to witness that, but it was a rough start too and we ended up just fine. It’s nothing to be scared about and we got back on the right track tonight.
“People in the community might think we’ve had a bad stretch, which we did, but that’s going to mean nothing come 60 games from now when it’s playoff time,” continued Twarynski. “If we keep doing what we’re doing and getting better, as a team and individually, and doing our roles and perfecting them, then we’ll be a great team in the end.
“No team is better than us. I don’t think that, no one in our room believes that.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna scratched G Salmond (undisclosed injury, indefinite), RHD Braydyn Chizen (lower-body, 1 week), RHD Kelvin Hair, LHD Kyle Pow, RW Liam Kindree and LW Wil Kushniryk . . . . Lind was Saturday’s third star, with a goal and three assists. He’s now tied for eighth in the WHL scoring race with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) through 12 games. Lind is on pace for 48 goals and 132 points over 72 games after leading the Rockets with 87 points, including 30 goals, in 70 games last season. . . . The Rockets wore special black-and-pink jerseys for Paint the Rink Pink night in support of the Canadian Cancer Society and breast cancer awareness. The players were also sporting pink skate laces and stick tape, with the jerseys being auctioned off at the game and all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.