Sports stats



WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets Doubled up by Vancouver

January 21, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets take on the Vancouver Giants
Kelowna Rockets take on the Vancouver Giants
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Rob Wilton / Vancouver Giants)

The Kelowna Rockets were topped by the Vancouver Giants in the back half of their weekend home-and-home series.

After downing the Giants 5-2 on Friday at Prospea Place, Vancouver responded with a 4-2 win on Sunday afternoon in Langley.

Seventeen-year-old rookie Kayden Longley put the Rockets on the board first, but the Giants quickly responded under a minute later. Before the end of the period, Vancouver took the lead and never looked back.

Longley recorded the second multi-point game of his career, netting the opening goal of the game and helping on Trae Johnson's third goal of the campaign.

GAME SUMMARY

Ty Hurley from the left corner spun and fed the puck in front of the Giants net where Kayden Longley (3) shoveled the puck past Brett Mirwald. Thirty-six seconds later Cameron Schmidt (12) responded for Vancouver after the rebounded found its way to him at the side of the net. The Giants took the lead at 9:32 after Mazden Leslie (10) banked his shot off of Rockets starter Jake Pilon and into the net.

Tyler Thorpe (21) pushed the Giants out to a two-goal lead 4:44 into the third period. One minute later Ethan Mittelsteadt's shot from the point ricocheted off of a Vancouver defender's stick and onto the blade of Trae Johnson (3) in the slot who beat Mirwald blocker side. Schmidt (13) restored the Giants two-goal lead fifty-one seconds later.

ADDITIONAL STATS

The Rockets record is now 21-20-2-0

Both teams are 0/3 on the man advantage

The Rockets outshot the Giants 32-24

Jake Pilon made his third consecutive start for Kelowna, stopping 20 of the 24 shots he faced

Held off of the scoresheet, Andrew Cristall's 23-game point streak came to an end

Tij Igina, who recorded a four-point game on Friday was unavailable. Ranked 11th overall among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Iginla departed today to attend the 2024 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Rockets fans can watch Iginla on TSN, TSN.ca, the TSN App, RDS and RDS.ca on Wednesday, January 24 starting at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m.

This was the fourth of eight meetings between the two, with the Rockets leading the season series 3-1

UP NEXT

The Rockets will return home for a Wednesday, January 24 matchup against the Everett Silvertips at Prospera Place. It will also be a Fan First Menu game with $2 hot dogs and $5 Lucky Lager. The Fan First Menu is available at all Monday to Wednesday regular season games.

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.

Six and twelve game Mini Packs for the Kelowna Rockets season are now on sale through Select Your Tickets.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets take on the Vancouver Giants
Kelowna Rockets take on the Vancouver Giants
(Rob Wilton / Vancouver Giants)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 21, 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.

OurSports Central