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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets Advance To Round Two For First Time In Seven Years

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


Kelowna Rockets battle the Wenatchee Wild
Kelowna Rockets battle the Wenatchee Wild
(Kelowna Rockets)

The Kelowna Rockets advanced to the second round of the WHL Playoffs for the first time since 2017 with a 4-2 victory over the Wenatchee Wild on Sunday at Prospera Place.

It took six games for Kelowna to earn four wins (6-8, 3-1, 5-1, 3-1, 4-5 OT, 4-2).

"We didn't want to go back to Wenatchee," said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in his post-game interview. "I'm really happy with the resiliency within our group and really proud, it's something that that the Rockets organization hasn't been able to do in quite some time."

This marks the first time Kelowna has moved past the first round since 2017, when the Rockets made it to the Western Conference Final.

Veteran netminder Jari Kykkanen went 4-1-0-1 in his third postseason appearance, posting a 2.88 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in the matchup. Kykkanen was named first star of the night in two of the games.

"Jari for the last month and a half has been the reason why we've gotten into these types of situations," said Mallette. "Obviously in playoffs he has risen to the challenges and we're benefitting from him and the way he's playing."

With the Everett Silvertips eliminating the Vancouver Giants today, the Rockets are now set to face the Western Conference and BC Division champion Prince George Cougars in the second round. More information about that series can be found below in the up next part of this release.

"We're going to enjoy this victory, said Mallette. "But we've got to make sure that again another team that transitions extremely well and has a very, very good power play, so that's something we need to be cognizant of. No one is going to give us a chance in this series, but we're up for the challenge."

GAME SUMMARY

Entering the zone, Andrew Cristall (2) passed it off from the top right faceoff circle to a trailing Kayden Sadhra-Kang at the left side, that dished it back over to Cristall who ripped a one-timer past goaltender Daniel Hauser 8:54 into the game.

In the second period, Tij Iginla dished the puck out front from the right corner for Michael Cicek to fire at the net. Picking up his own rebound, Cicek found Iginla (8) at the backdoor to push Kelowna out to a two-goal lead 9:30 into the second period. Taking off on a two-on-one, Maddix two-goal (1) cut the Rockets lead in half before heading into the final intermission.

In front of the Wild net, Iginla poked the puck away from a Wild defenceman. He then passed it back to a trailing Andrew Cristall (3) to score what would be the eventual game winner. With ample amount of time left on the clock, Max Graham (3) scored into the empty net before Evan Friesen (3) tallied a late Wild goal.

ADDITIONAL STATS

Kelowna was 0/2 on the man advantage while the Wild were 0/6

Wenatchee outshot Kelowna 36-33

The Rockets win the series 4-2

UP NEXT

The Rockets are now set to face the Western Conference and BC Division champion Prince George Cougars in the second round. The series will open on Friday at the CN Centre in Prince George. Ticketing details about the Rockets two home games will be released at a later time.

Game

Date

Visitor

Home

Time

1

Friday, April 12

Kelowna

Prince George

7:00 p.m. PST

2

Saturday, April 13

Kelowna

Prince George

6:00 p.m. PST

3

Tuesday, April 16

Prince George

Kelowna

7:05 p.m. PST

4

Wednesday, April 17

Prince George

Kelowna

7:05 p.m. PST

5*

Friday, April 19

Kelowna

Prince George

7:00 p.m. PST

6*

Sunday, April 21

Prince George

Kelowna

2:05 p.m. PST

7*

Tuesday, April 23

Kelowna

Prince George

7:00 p.m. PST

*-If necessary

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets battle the Wenatchee Wild
Kelowna Rockets battle the Wenatchee Wild
   

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