Rockets post second straight win
(Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor)
The Kelowna Rockets picked up their second straight win with a 5-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night at Prospera Place.
Kelowna scored the opening goal of the game but Tri-City pushed back with three unanswered goals. The Rockets responded with four consecutive goals to complete the comeback.
“Obviously we got into a couple of penalty troubles,” said defenceman Jackson Desouza in his postgame interview. “The guys really beared down, Jari played really well and the guys sacrificed. That’s exactly what we need to do in those types of games.”
DeSouza entered the game with just one career goal, the 19-year-old netted Kelowna’s first two goals of the night.
“It felt good, I had a couple of scoring chances in the last couple of games. But honestly, the two goals is nice, but getting the two points tonight and the two last night was way better.”
Andrew Cristall extended his point streak to eight games with a three-point night.
ADDITIONAL STATS
- Kelowna outshot Tri-City 41-33
- The Rockets were 0/3 on the power play while the Americans were 0/6
- Jackson DeSouza was the game’s first star, Andrew Cristall was the second and Ethan Ernst was the third
- The Rockets record moves to 8-8-1-0
- Jari Kykkanen stopped 30 of the 33 shots for the win in net
On Friday, Andrew Cristall, Colton Dach and Marcus Pacheco each posted four-point nights in a 10-3 win over the visiting Spokane Chiefs.
The Rockets visit the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday and the Everett Silvertips on Friday.
Kelowna’s next home game is Saturday, November 26 when they’ll face the 2022 Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year Brayden Yager and the Moose Jaw Warriors.