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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Kelowna Wins Third Straight

March 7, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets' Caden Price in action
Kelowna Rockets' Caden Price in action
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets)

The Kelowna Rockets closed out their season series with the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday night, pushing their win streak to three games with a 6-1 victory over the Ams.

With the win, the Rockets are now tied with the Vancouver Giants for sixth in the Western Conference standings with 62 points and are three points back of the Victoria Royals for fifth in a tight race for playoff positioning.

"We've gotta take care of what's in front of us first and foremost," said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in his postgame interview. "These are all steps of late that are in the right direction, these last five or six games, finding ways to win with a little bit of adversity here and there while getting points. That's a confident group in there right now, we'll see what comes."

The Rockets have seven games remaining in their regular season schedule, while the Giants have eight and the Royals have six.

Hiroki Gojsic, ranked 94th among North American skaters by Central Scouting for the 2024 NHL Draft, pushed his point streak to seven games and earned first-star honors after recording two goals and an assist.

He leads all Rockets rookies in points with 44 through 61 games, 13 of his 19 goals have been scored following the holiday break.

"I'd say it was a bit of a learning curve coming to this league [the WHL]," said Gojsic in his post-game interview about finding a scoring touch in the second half. "Just playing with more confidence, playing with more speed, not giving the puck up often and making sure it's on my stick, good things happen from that. Once I figured it out, I felt like I could dominate and play my game more."

GAME SUMMARY

Cash Koch (9) left unguarded coasted to the top of the slot where he let a shot go that beat Rockets starter Jari Kykkanen high glove side 13:02 into the game. While on the power play in the final minute of the opening frame, Michael Cicek sent the puck in front of the net where Hiroki Gojsic (18) jammed the puck into the Americans net to tie the game.

The Rockets grabbed the lead 5:42 into the second period after Andrew Cristall intercepted the puck behind the Americans net, setting up newly signed Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Gabriel Szturc (28) with the eventual game-winner low in the left faceoff circle. Gojsic from behind the net centered the puck where Tij Iginla (43) backhanded the puck past Lukas Matecha. Less than a minute later, Iginla dished the puck off to Gojsic (19) while entering the zone, ripping home his second of the game.

Max Graham (15) added a short-handed tally in the third period before Luke Schelter (13) added another in the final minutes of regulation.

ADDITIONAL STATS

The Rockets record is now 29-28-3-1

Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen stopped 26 of 27 shots fired his way to pick up his 24th win of the season and earn third star honors

Tri-City was 0/6 with the man advantage, while the Rockets power play went 1/2

The Rockets outshot the Ams 43-27

This was the final between the two this season, with the Rockets winning the season series 4-1.

UP NEXT

The Rockets will host the Kamloops Blazers for one final time this regular season on Friday night when they kick off a home-and-home series with the Blazers at Prospera Place. Instario will be playing live music throughout the game.

Single Game Tickets for all Rockets games can be purchased:

Online at selectyourtickets.com

By calling Select Your Tickets at 250-762-5050

Or by visiting the Select Your Tickets box office at the Prospera Place box office. The box office is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and opens at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday home game days.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets' Caden Price in action
Kelowna Rockets' Caden Price in action
(Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2024


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.

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