Rockets win first two preseason WHL games

The Kelowna Rockets improved to 2-0 in the Western Hockey League preseason with a 4-1 win over the Victoria Royals on Saturday night at Prospera Place in Kelowna.

That came after a 7-3 win over the Royals on Friday night.

Gabriel Szturc (2) opened the scoring Saturay for the Rockets just 26 seconds into the game with the lone goal of the first period. Jake Lee (1) and Jake Poole (1) extended the lead to three goals in the second frame.

Defencemen William Irvine (1) closed out the Rockets scoring in the third. Cage Newans (1) broke Kelowna’s shutout bid before the end of the period.

Nicholas Cristiano started the night in net for Kelowna, stopping all 11 shots he faced in the lone period he played. Cole Tisdale replaced Cristiano at the start of the second, turning aside 17 of 18 shots fired on him.

Kelowna’s power play went one-for-one on the night, while Victoria was zero-for-three with the man advantage.

The Rockets outshot the Royals 35 to 29.

Trevor Wong, Noah Dorey, Tyson Feist, Mark Liwiski, Cole Schwebius and Pavel Novak were the Rockets scratches.

Kelowna is off until Friday night when they head to Kamloops. They’ll then host the Blazers to close out the preseason next Saturday at Prospera Place, puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available at selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050. Two dollars from each preseason ticket sold will be donated to Cops For Kids.

The Rockets are set to open their regular season schedule on October 15, 2021, against the Kamloops Blazers. Season tickets are now available to the general public for the upcoming 2021-22 Rockets season. Click here for details and pricing.