Junior hockey: Kelowna Rockets outlast Prince George Cougars in 8-6 goalfest

Adam Kydd had a memorable night for the Kelowna Rockets in a high-scoring win on Wednesday night.

At Prospera Place, Kydd notched a hat trick, along with two assists, for a five-point outing as the Rockets downed the Prince George Cougars 8-6.

Colton Dach, with two goals, Gabriel Szturc, Caden Price and Rilen Kovacevic also scored for Kelowna (6-7-1-0), which led 2-1 and 4-3 at the period breaks.

“It took me a few years (to score a hat trick),” said Kydd, a 20-year-old who’s in his fourth and final season of junior eligibility.

“It’s a great feeling, I’ve had a lot of two-goal games not being able to get the third one. It’s a great feeling to get one in my career.”

Andrew Cristall also had a five-point night with five assists, while goalie Talyn Boyko stopped 22 of 28 shots.

Chase Wheatcroft and Koehn Ziemmer had two goals each, while Cole Dubinsky and Noah Boyko replied for Prince George (9-8-0-0).

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Tyler Brennan stopped 20 of 27 shots for the Cougars, current frontrunners in B.C. Division standings with 18 points – one ahead of Kamloops (17 points) and five ahead of fourth-place Kelowna.

Notably, Prince George has played 17 games thus far, three more than Kamloops and Kelowna.

The Rockets were 2-for-4 on the power play in Wednesday’s game while the Cougars were 1-for-7.

“I said to the guys ‘I’m happy we won the game.’ I’ll never take that away from them, as always a win is a win,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette.

Mallette continued, saying “Prince George is a very hungry team, they weren’t going to roll over. They’re a team that’s playing with a lot of confidence. I think they surprised us, that we got up one or two goals and they didn’t stop coming, they didn’t stop pressuring us.

“Just turn over, turn over, turn over at some ill-advised times. Just some lapses that made things a lot more interesting than they should’ve been.”

Up next

The Rockets’ next game will be Saturday, as they travel to Kamloops to face the Blazers (7-4-2-1), who will host the 2023 Memorial Cup next spring.

Last Saturday, Kelowna dumped the Blazers 3-1 at Prospera Place despite getting outshot 45-24.

Kelowna’s next home game will be Friday, Nov. 18 against the struggling Spokane Chiefs (3-10-0-1).

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