Losing by two goals, on home ice, wasn’t the way the Kelowna Rockets were looking to ring in 2023.
But that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday night, as the Rockets lost 4-2 to the Victoria Royals.
“It’s a team that’s being content with being just close enough,” a dejected Rockets head coach Kris Mallette said of his team in a post-game interview.
“That extra push, that bear down in front of the net when you have opportunities, the ability to get to the net and show you want to hang around. Just …. a step behind.”
Jake Poole had two goals, while Brayden Schuurman and Marcus Almquist scored for Victoria (9-24-3-1), which broke open a 2-2 tie after two periods with two goals in the final frame.
Andrew Cristall, with his 24th goal of the season, made it 1-1 at 8:13 of the second, and Elias Carmichael, who made it 2-2 at 16:11, replied for Kelowna (12-19-3-0).
Almquist scored what stood up as the game-winning goal at 1:56 of the third, a power-play marker following a tripping penalty to Kelowna. The five-foot-five-inch forward circled from the left corner, then, with a quick shot from the faceoff dot, went short-side on Kelowna’s net.
Poole closed out the scoring at 17:00 with another power-play goal, redirecting a shot from the point. Notably, Poole had played three seasons with Kelowna before getting traded to Victoria early this season.
In 35 games this season (two with Kelowna, 33 with Victoria), the six-foot-two-inch, 20-year-old forward was 20 goals and 35 points — stats that would place him third in Rockets team scoring. Last season, Poole had 14 goals and 32 points in 48 games.
Braden Holt stopped 31 of 33 shots for the Royals, with Talyn Boyko turning aside 26 of 30 shots for the Rockets.
Victoria was 2-for-6 on the power play while Kelowna was 0-for-3.
Kelowna’s last win was Friday, Dec. 16, a 6-0 victory over Lethbridge. Since then, the Rockets have lost six straight and have been outscored 26-10 in that span.
“Losing with our group right now … you gotta hate to lose,” said Mallette. “I feel that our group, I think they don’t like it, but I don’t think they don’t hate it. And right now, it’s easier for them to say, ‘Oh well, it’s just another game.’ But it’s not just another game.
“The mistakes we make, the ill-advised plays or penalties that we’ve taken end up in the back of the net.”
The Rockets are back in action on Friday night, as they host the Kamloops Blazers at Prospera Place. Then on Saturday night, the Rockets visit the Blazers.
The games will be the fifth and sixth meetings of the season between the two Interior rivals, with Kamloops having won three of four so far.
In related news, Kelowna forward Colton Dach will be out of action for at least eight weeks after he suffered a shoulder injury at the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship in Atlantic Canada.
Drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021, Dach tried hitting defenceman Victor Sjoholm in Canada’s 5-1 win over Sweden on Saturday. Immediately after the hit, Dach could be heard yelling in pain.
Team Canada announced on Sunday that Dach would miss the rest of the tournament, with Kelowna Rockets president and general manager confirming that Dach wouldn’t be back until possibly the last two weeks of the season, or possibly the playoffs.
Also this week, Kelowna signed Czech defenceman Marek Rocak.
The Rockets drafted Rocak in last June’s CHL Import Draft, selecting the 5-foot-10 blue-liner in the first round, 43rd overall.
According to the team, Rocak spent the majority of this season with HC Frydek-Mistek in the men’s Czechia2 league, appearing in 14 games. He also played in three games for HC Ocelari Trinec in Czechia’s top men’s league, and also played one game for HC Ocelari Trinec’s U-20 team, posting a goal.