The Kelowna Rockets finished off their 2022-23 regular season with a victory over the Vancouver Giants.
Saturday night, Kelowna faced off against Vancouver at Prospera Place, coming off an away loss against the Giants.
On fan appreciation night, the Rockets beat the Giants 5-4 with the game-winning goal from Turner McMillen.
The game had a quiet start, with the first goal coming from the Rockets’ Gabriel Szturc, at 7:58 in the opening period, his 23rd of the season.
The second period saw Kelowna take charge scoring three unanswered goals.
At 2:28, Carson Golder scored his 31st goal and five minutes later on the penalty kill, Max Graham added another, giving the Rockets a 3-0 lead.
In the second half of the period, Szturc added another to the Rockets’ total, however, the Giants responded, with Julian Cull scoring with less than a minute left in the period at 19:09.
The Giants weren’t ready to back down yet as Skyler Bruce and Ty Halaburda each netted one within less than a minute of each other.
Kelowna responded a few minutes later on the power play with Turner McMillen scoring his ninth of the season, giving the Rockets a 5-3 lead.
Vancouver added another goal in the last minute from Colton Roberts, but it wasn’t enough to come back.
The Rockets finish the season with a 27-37-4-0 record and 58 points on the year, good for eighth in the Western Conference.
The Giants finish six points ahead, in the seventh spot with a record of 28-32-5-3.
Kelowna will take on the Seattle Thunderbirds (54-11-1-2, 111 points) in the first round of the 2023 WHL playoffs with Game 1 on Friday, March 31 in Seattle.
Vancouver will face the Kamloops Blazers (48-13-4-3, 103 points) with the first game Friday in Kamloops.
Games 3 and 4 will be played in Kelowna on April 4 and 5.
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