Rockets Rested and Ready for Weekend Pair
February 14, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release
Kelowna Rockets in action
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Marissa Baecker / Kelowna Rockets Images)
After having the week off, the Kelowna Rockets hit the ice tomorrow night when they host the Western Conference-leading Everett Silvertips. The next night, the Rockets will play the B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants on home ice at Prospera Place.
The Rockets were last in action this past Saturday where they defeated the Kamloops Blazers 4-1 on the road. Defenceman, Cayde Augustine says that the Rockets need to play the body this weekend.
"We need to stick to our structure," said Augustine. "We need to play physical, and we need to get on them fast. They're both fast and skilful teams, if we play physical and our structure early on we will be set."
Kelowna has already faced the Everett Silvertips three times this season, the Tips hold a 2-1 edge in the series.
The Silvertips scored the game-winning goal in the dying seconds of the game to secure a 2-1 victory over the Rockets back on November 24th at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The two played their first game against one another in 2019 on January 9th at Prospera Place, Everett downed the Rockets 4-2. They last met on January 18th in Everett, where the Rockets shut out the Silvertips 2-0.
Friday night's game will be the last time Kelowna and Everett play each other during the regular season this year.
Everett was scheduled to play the Red Deer Rebels last night at the Angel of the Winds Arena, but the game had to be postponed until tonight due to weather.
The Silvertips enter today atop the U.S. Division and Western Conference standings. They have a record of 38-13-1-1 and 78 points.
The Rockets have a record of 23-26-4-1, which gives them 51 points and places them in third place in the B.C. Division. The Rockets are 13 points up on the fifth-placed Prince George Cougars and are four points ahead of the fourth-placed Kamloops Blazers. Kelowna trails the Victoria Royals by six points for second in the division, while the Vancouver Giants hold the top spot with 77 points.
The Vancouver Giants will then roll into Prospera Place the next night. They'll head to Kelowna following their game Friday night where they host the Spokane Chiefs.
The Rockets have already played the Giants five times this season, Vancouver is up 4-1 in the season series
Vancouver and Kelowna net twice during the month of October. The Giants downed the Rockets on both occasions; 5-0 at Prospera Place on October 3rd, and 3-1 October 21st at the Langley Events Centre. The next two games were closer, Vancouver defeated the Rockets 2-1 on November 28th and January 26th. The Rockets claimed their first victory in the series on January 27th at the Langley Events Centre where Leif Mattsson scored the shootout-winning goal.
The two still have three more games left to play after the game Saturday night. Kelowna will play Vancouver on the road on March 1st. They'll then wrap up the season with a home and home series against each other starting March 15th at the Langley Events Centre, they'll then return to Kelowna for the final game the next night.
Come cheer on the Rockets as they battle the top two teams in the west this weekend! Tickets are on sale at selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.
Images from this story
 Kelowna Rockets in action (Marissa Baecker / Kelowna Rockets Images) |
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