A roundup of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
Saturday night’s matchup between the Kelowna Rockets and Medicine Hat Tigers was one the Rockets will want to put behind them quickly, after taking a 9-2 beating in front of their fans.
From start to finish, the Tigers were in full control and deserved to win. In the first period, they stormed out to a 4-0 lead, before the Rockets found a window .
Tij Iginla scored his eighth goal of the season for Kelowna on the powerplay, while Andrew Cristall potted home his sixth tally of the new campaign just 40 seconds later to make it a 4-2 contest in the first period.
The middle frame saw just one goal — and it came from Tigers forward Cayden Lindstrom who buried his seventh goal of the season and his second of the game. But after that, Medicine Hat’s offense exploded, putting up four more goals in the final period to close out on a 9-2 win in the two teams’ only meeting this season.
The Tigers powerplay was virtually unstoppable — scoring five powerplay goals on seven attempts. The Rockets on the other hand, struggled with the man advantage, going one for five. The Rockets’ next game is on Wednesday night on home ice against the Swift Current Broncos.
The West Kelowna Warriors won their third-straight game, defeating the Merritt Centennials in a back-and-forth affair.
The Centennials opened the scoring on the powerplay, but the Warriors roared back with three unanswered goals to silence the fans at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Rather than going down easy though, the Cents set out on a mission and deposited two goals to tie the game in the second period.
The Warriors broke the tie with just over one minute left to play in the second period, and they continued to show off their offensive firepower, adding two more goals in the final frame. The Cents would score a powerplay goal halfway through the final 20 minutes of play, but it wouldn’t be enough to solve the Warriors, who picked up a 6-4 win, and now boast a record of 6-2-0.
The Warriors’ next game is Wednesday, Oct. 18 when they host the Vernon Vipers. The two clubs are currently tied for second place in their division.
The Penticton Vees had a perfect weekend, knocking off both Cranbrook on Friday and Trail on Saturday.
With the win on Saturday, the Vees have now won three straight and extended their point streak to an impressive eight games. The club now sits two points ahead of the Vernon Vipers for first place in the Interior Division.
A big component of Saturday’s win in Trail was Penticton’s ability to find scoring from up and down their lineup. The Vees got six goals from six different players, and 12 players recorded a single point. The Vees’ powerplay operated at 50 per cent, going 1 for 2 on the evening, while the Smoke Eaters’ powerplay went 2 for 4.
Vees netminder Will Ingemann played all 60 minutes in Saturday’s tilt, setting aside 24 shots of the 27 shots he faced. The Vees are back in action at home on Saturday, Oct. 21 against the Merritt Centennials.
After falling in their season opener, the Vernon Vipers have now won six-straight, with their latest triumph coming against the Cranbrook Bucks.
No goals were scored in the first period, but the offence came fast and furious in the second frame. Cranbrook found the back of the net once, while Vernon scored four times to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. But give credit where credit is due — the Bucks fought back hard in the final frame to make the score close.
Cranbrook posted back-to-back goals to make it a one goal game, and while it appeared the momentum was shifting, Vernon stuck with the game plan, adding to their lead by scoring a powerplay goal and an empty-net goal, en route to a 6-3 win. The Vipers will look to extend their winning streak to seven games on Wednesday Oct., 18 when they travel to West Kelowna for a date with the Warriors.
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