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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets Pick Up Important Points In Playoff Position Battle

March 23, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


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

The Kelowna Rockets leapfrogged the Vancouver Giants for sole possession of fifth in the Western Conference on Friday night with a 6-2 victory in Langley.

Kelowna, who entered the night a point back of the Giants, fell behind on a power play goal but quickly responded never letting their foot off the gas. The Rockets will meet the Giants again tomorrow at Prospera Place where they will both wrap up their regular season schedules, if the Rockets win on home ice they will click the fifth spot.

Tomorrow's game is also the Rockets annual Fan Appreciation Night, which will feature: a jersey off the back giveaway from the players, a team poster giveaway and live music from The Hip Replacements. The 50/50 Jackpot that started online sales at $10,000 earlier this week - as of Friday evening the jackpot has climbed to $13,375,

Single game tickets for Saturday are on sale at selectyourtickets.com

The Wenatchee Wild took down the Victoria Royals 4-2 tonight, locking up fourth place in the conference. The winner of tomorrow's Kelowna-Vancouver matchup will face the Wild in the opening round of the WHL Playoffs, while the loser will take on the third place Everett Silvertips.

WE ARE WAITING FOR HIGHLIGHTS | BOXSCORE | CONFERENCE STANDINGS

GAME SUMMARY

After being called for too many men, Cameron Schmidt (31) capitalized on the man advantage with a drive from the point. Kayden Longley (7) responded for the Rockets forty-six seconds later, standing in front of the Giants net he was able to shovel the rebound past Brett Mirwald. Thirteen seconds later Kelowna struck again, Rockets captain Gabriel Szturc (32) drove to the net on a give and go play with Andrew Cristall to take the lead.

Max Graham (18) let a shot go from the right faceoff circle to pad the Rockets lead after picking up a bouncing puck while entering the attacking zone.

Buzzing on the attack to start the third period, Szturc found Cristall (40) at the backdoor 24 seconds into the final frame. In one on one with defenceman Marek Rocak, Tyson Zimmer (22) made a toe drag move releasing a shot that beat Jari Kykkanen at the 12:08 mark, but a power play goal from Caden Price (13) 30 seconds later restored Kelowna's four goal lead. Vancouver elected to pull their net with lots of time left on the clock, where Szturc (33) struck for a second time with 4:29 to play in regulation.

ADDITIONAL STATS

The Rockets record is now 32-30-4-1

Goaltender Jari Kykkanen stopped 22 of the 24 shots fired his way

Both teams went 1/2 on the man advantage

The Rockets outshot the Giants 36-24

The Rockets lead the season series 6-1-0-0, they will wrap it up tomorrow at Prospera Place

WE NEED YOU TO BRING THE NOISE AT TOMORROW'S 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 battle the Vancouver Giants
Kelowna Rockets battle the Vancouver Giants
(Rob Wilton/Vancouver Giants)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 23, 2024


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