Kelowna Rockets score 5 unanswered goals in 5-4 victory over Vancouver Giants

The Kelowna Rockets came out on top for their second win in a row against the Vancouver Giants Friday night.

The Rockets won 5-4 at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., scoring five unanswered goals to secure the victory.

“If you were to look at the first seven minutes of the game, the way we started obviously wasn’t ideal,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette.

“I really liked how we finished the first period. I thought the second was really strong, arguably one of our better of the year, which was great because typically it’s a lull for us. The decisions we were making as we wore on — and there weren’t a ton of them — like I said to the group, if we want to turn a corner, those soft little hope plays aren’t going to cut it.”

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Vancouver scored two quick goals early in the first period. Julian Cull opened the game’s scoring two minutes into the first. At 4:29, the Giants put another on the board, with Damian Palmieri scoring his third goal of the year.

That hot start, however, didn’t discourage the Rockets, as 11:09 in, Adam Kydd scored on the powerplay for his 15th of the year.

Five minutes later at 16:03, Kelowna evened out the score, with Ethan Mittelsteadt netting his second on the year and his first as a Rocket.

As this was the fifth time the Rockets have played the Giants in their past six games, and things quickly got rough between the rivals. In the first period alone, multiple roughing penalties were called and the Rockets’ Jackson DeSouza and Giants’ Ethan Semeniuk fought in the final minute of the frame.

The Rockets took the lead with Gabriel Szturc scoring on the powerplay 0:57 into the second period. Carson Golder scored his 20th goal of the season at 8:35.

In the third period, Kelowna scored its fifth goal of the game, with Jackson DeSouza netting his sixth.

The Giants responded with goals from Ethan Semeniuk and Jaden Lipinski, however, it wouldn’t be enough to beat the Rockets.

Kelowna outshot Vancouver 37-29 in the win and is now 16-26-3-0 on the season.

The Rockets were without Andrew Cristall, Ty Hurley, Max Graham, John Babcock and Marek Rocek, who all missed the game due to injury or illness.

Kelowna wraps up its three-game homestand Saturday, facing off against the Prince Albert Raiders.