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Kelowna Rockets close regular season with win over Vancouver Giants

The Kelowna Rockets finished off their 2022-23 regular season with a victory over the Vancouver Giants.

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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.

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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.

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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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