The Kelowna Rockets head out on a three-game road trip through Alberta starting in Lethbridge on Wednesday night. The match-up is the last time the Rockets will face the Lethbridge Hurricanes this regular season.
The Rockets and the Hurricanes have met twice already this season with Kelowna taking both games on home ice. On November 17th, the Rockets won 7-4. In the most recent match-up on January 17th the Rockets edged past the Hurricanes in a 4-3 overtime win. Rockets Captain Cal Foote scored the game winning goal at the 2:55 mark in overtime. Rockets Assistant Coach Kris Mallette says to ensure another win against the Hurricanes the team will need to stay focused.
“We need to make sure we’re playing with pace and staying disciplined,” says Mallette. “Sticking within the structure of our game plan is key to the teams success.”
The Rockets are coming off of an 8-4 win over the Victoria Royals on Saturday night. Mallette says early pressure was a large contributor to their last win and they’ll need to continue that throughout the road trip.
“Last game we scored two goals early in the first five minutes of the game and we built momentum through that,” said Mallette. “Those early goals let our young goalie breathe a little easier, but all in all we played sharp and skated well.”
Kelowna enters Wednesday’s game with a record of 29-14-2-1 giving them 61 points placing them first in the B.C Division. The Rockets sit three points ahead of the second place Victoria Royals with two games in hand, and four points ahead of third place Vancouver Giants.
The Hurricanes enter their game against the Kootenay Ice on Tuesday night with a record of 22-20-4-0 giving them 48 points. They currently sit in second place in the Central Division, five points back of the Medicine Hat Tigers with one game in hand.
Puck drop on Wednesday is at 6:00pm.
After Wednesday night the Rockets are back in action on Friday, January 26th when they take on the Medicine Hat Tigers. Puck drop on Friday is at 6:30pm. Kelowna then heads to Red Deer for a match against the Rebels the following evening on Saturday night. Saturday’s puck drop is at 6:00pm.
The Rockets will be back on home ice Tuesday, January 30th to take on the Medicine Hat Tigers in a re-match of the game on Friday night.
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