The Kelowna Rockets lost 5-1 to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday night at Prospera Place.
Moose Jaw’s Carson Denomie (2) opened the scoring 4:08 into the game. Denomie’s goal, his second of the season, was the only marker during the first period.
Justin Almeida, with his 14th of the season, gave the Warriors a two-goal lead 15:08 into the middle frame while on the power play. Jett Woo, with his eighth, extended the lead to 3-0 when he got a shot past Rockets starter Roman Basran with 24 seconds remaining in the frame.
After 40 minutes, the Warriors were up 3-0.
Drae Gardiner, with his first goal of the season, put the Warriors up 4-0 at 8:17 of the third. Daniil Stepanov, with his fifth, scored Moose Jaw’s fifth goal at 11:20.
Following Stepanov’s goal, Basran was given the hook, with James Porter taking over in goal.
Kyle Topping, with three minutes left in the game, dashed Moose Jaw’s hopes for a shutout win when he beat Warriors goaltender Brodan Salmond at 17:00.
Salmond (13-4-0-1) was selected in the 10th round, 219th overall, by Kelowna in the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft. He played two-and-a-half seasons with the Rockets (2015-2018), appearing in 56 regular-season games.
The Warriors outshot the Rockets 29-19. Salmond finished with just 18 saves. Basran (12-13-1-0) stopped 20 of 25 shots while Porter was 4-for-4 in eight minutes and 40 seconds of relief.
Kelowna’s record fell to 17-22-3-1 while Moose Jaw’s improved to 23-11-5-2.
The Rockets are third in B.C. Division standings with 38 points, 18 back of the first-place Vancouver Giants (27-12-2-0, 56 pts.). Victoria (22-17-1-0) is second with 45 points while Prince George (16-23-1-2) is fourth with 35. Kamloops (15-23-2-1) is fifth and last with 33 points.
Moose Jaw is third in East Division standings with 53 points, 24 back of the first-place and league-leading Prince Albert Raiders (38-5-0-1, 77 pts.).
This weekend, Kelowna will trek to Everett (33-9-1-1, 68 pts.) to face the Western Conference-leading Silvertips on Friday night. On Saturday, Kelowna will host Prince Albert. The Rockets will honour Josh Georges ahead of the game.
Comments