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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets Kick off Three Game Road Trip with Back-To-Back Matchups in Prince George

February 26, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets Center Kyle Topping vs. the Prince George Cougars
Kelowna Rockets Center Kyle Topping vs. the Prince George Cougars
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Marissa Baecker)

The Kelowna Rockets will be looking to extend their three game win streak this week when they head to Prince George to take on the Cougars. The Rockets and Cougars will face off on Tuesday and Wednesday night in Prince George.

The Rockets have had trouble hanging on to leads as of late, but are still 4-0-0-1 over their last five games. Assistant Coach Kris Mallette believes that can be used as motivation over the last three weeks of the regular season.

"We've won some games of late where we haven't played our best team game and our message down this stretch will be focusing on that," Mallette says. "In playoffs, we'll need to elevate our game if we want to have success. We'll reiterate that it isn't just a switch that you can turn on and off. So let's use these last 10 games to get our team game back and finish off the season the right way."

Tuesday's game will be the sixth out of eight meetings between the the B.C. Division rivals. Kelowna has won the previous five contests so far this season. The Rockets were in Prince George for their first two meetings on October 6th and 7th. Dillon Dube led the way in both games putting up eight points (2G, 6A) to help the Rockets secure 7-6 and 4-3 overtime wins. The Cougars were at Prospera Place on October 28th when James Porter made 27 saves to lead the Rockets to a 4-2 victory. The Rockets hosted the Cougars again on November 29th, and this time it was Carsen Twarynski's turn to steal the show. Twarynski notched a hat-trick while Dillon Dube (1G, 2A), Cal Foote (1G, 1A) and Kyle Topping (2A) all had multiple point games in a 5-3 Rockets win. The teams didn't meet again until February 20th, again in Kelowna. Carsen Twarynski had two first period goals and Erik Gardiner's first goal since returning from injury stood as the game winner. After this weeks double header in Prince George, the teams will meet one more time in Kelowna on March 14th to wrap up their season series.

The Rockets come into Tuesdays game with a 38-18-4-2 record and sitting in first place in the B.C. Division with 82 points. The Victoria Royals are second in the division with 75 points. The Vancouver Giants have third place occupied with 70 points. The Giants have three less games played than the Royals and two less than the Rockets. Kelowna is the only team in the division to have clinched a playoff spot. In the Western Conference, the Rockets sit behind only the Everett Silvertips and their 87 points. The Portland Winterhawks sit third in the conference with 78 points.

Prince George's record heading into action on Tuesday sits at 20-33-4-4. The Cougars are last in the B.C. Division, 11 points back of the fourth place Kamloops Blazers. The Cougars also sit last in the Western Conference, with those same Kamloops Blazers being the next closest team.

Puck drop for Tuesday and Wednesday nights contests is 7:00p.m.

The Rockets will then head to Everett to take on the Silvertips in their season series finale on Friday night at 7:35p.m. The Rockets will be make their way home to take on Dan Lambert and the Spokane Chiefs at Prospera Place on Saturday night. Puck drop for that one will be 7:05p.m.

Tickets are available for Rockets home games through selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets Center Kyle Topping vs. the Prince George Cougars
Kelowna Rockets Center Kyle Topping vs. the Prince George Cougars
(Marissa Baecker)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2018


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