Sports stats

WHL Kelowna Rockets

Comeback Tops Tri-City

February 13, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets defenceman John Babcock vs. the Tri-City Americans
Kelowna Rockets defenceman John Babcock vs. the Tri-City Americans
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets came back to down the Tri-City Americans 5-4 in overtime on Saturday at Prospera Place in Kelowna, BC.

Assistant captain Pavel Novak earned first star honours after posting a four-point night, that included a hat trick capped off in overtime.

Goaltender Jari Kykkanen's record remains a perfect 3-0-0-0 after stopping 30 of the 34 shots fired on him through 60:37 of action.

Rockets leading scorer Pavel Novak (20) was successful on a penalty shot to open the games scoring 1:29 into the second. The Americans then responded with goals from Dwayne Jean Jr. (3) and a power play tally from Lukas Dragicevic (5). Colton Dach was given a game misconduct 12:09 into the second period for checking to the head.

Samuel Huo (15) pushed the Ams out to a 3-1 lead early in the third with a short-handed goal. Gabriel Szturc (9) pulled the Rockets back within one by deflecting Jake Lee's shot past Tomas Suchanek. Huo (16) re-established the three-goal lead for Tri-City with his second of the night. The Rockets appeared to have scored, but the referees waived it off due to a high stick. Novak (21) then scored on the power play to pull Kelowna within one. In the dying minutes of the game, with Rockets starter Jari Kykkanen on the bench for the extra man, Andrew Cristall (14) found the back of the net to force extra time.

Cristall dished the puck over to Novak (22), completing the hat trick and lifting the Rockets past the Americans a minute into overtime.

Kelowna outshot Tri-City 41 to 34.

Kelowna was 2-for-5 with the power play, while Tri-City was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Rockets record improves to 26-11-1-3, they currently sit second in the BC Division with 56 points.

Kelowna will close out their homestand at Prospera Place with a Wednesday night matchup against the Prince George Cougars at 7:05 pm. Tickets for Wednesday and all other Rockets games are available at selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050. Select Your Tickets is open 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and opens at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday home game days.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets defenceman John Babcock vs. the Tri-City Americans
Kelowna Rockets defenceman John Babcock vs. the Tri-City Americans
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Kelowna Rockets Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central