Malc
03-09-2009, 01:28 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
Ryan Huska called it an important victory. Meanwhile, Don Hay called it an important point.
Point for Huska, whose Kelowna Rockets carved out a 3-2 overtime win against Hay‘s Vancouver Giants in WHL action on Saturday night. Trailing 2-0 at one point, the Rockets scored three unanswered goals, with Jamie Benn capping the rally early in overtime with a doorstep shot.
For Kelowna, the win was important for two reasons: One, it earned them two valuable points in the race for third place in Western Conference standings, and; Two, it was the Rockets‘ third straight win over the Giants.
From Vancouver‘s standpoint, though, it was just game No. 68 of 72.
“It was a good rally,” said Huska, Kelowna‘s head coach, whose team was outplayed in the opening 20 minutes as the Giants put heavy pressure on the Rockets. “I thought we were flat to start the game... it was as if we were almost afraid to make a mistake.
“But after the first period, we got ourselves going again and kept battling and came back and found a way to win.”
Entering the game, Kelowna had a 2-5 record against Vancouver, results that included the Giants winning the first five contests.
Now, though, it appears the Rockets have momentum against the Giants, having taken the last three – although two of those three wins were 3-2 overtime decisions, both at Prospera Place.
“It‘s important and it‘s hopefully what they‘ll remember should we see them in the playoffs,” said Huska. “Every time we play them, they play a very tight checking game. There‘s not a lot of room, and you have to be prepared to battle through it.
“Both teams did a good job of that, but we found a way to get that (winning) goal.”
Said Hay: “It was a pretty entertaining game. Both teams competed hard and both teams battled hard right to the end. Two overtime losses... if you get into overtime, both teams are pretty happy to get points. Kelowna played well against us down in our building (last time).
“They‘ve gained a lot of confidence playing against us, and it‘s up to us to do something to discourage them and we weren‘t able to do that.”
ICE CHIPS: The Rockets have four regular-season games left, and all take place this week. Kelowna hosts Portland on Wednesday, visits Kamloops on Friday, hosts Kamloops on Saturday, then treks to Spokane on Sunday... In Western Conference standings, Kelowna is in third with 90 points, one more than Spokane... Benn was credited with just one goal in Saturday‘s contest. However, Benn was later credited with Kelowna‘s first goal, tallied at 19:52 of the first and originally given to Colin Long... Benn now has 43 goals on the season.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=170023
Ryan Huska called it an important victory. Meanwhile, Don Hay called it an important point.
Point for Huska, whose Kelowna Rockets carved out a 3-2 overtime win against Hay‘s Vancouver Giants in WHL action on Saturday night. Trailing 2-0 at one point, the Rockets scored three unanswered goals, with Jamie Benn capping the rally early in overtime with a doorstep shot.
For Kelowna, the win was important for two reasons: One, it earned them two valuable points in the race for third place in Western Conference standings, and; Two, it was the Rockets‘ third straight win over the Giants.
From Vancouver‘s standpoint, though, it was just game No. 68 of 72.
“It was a good rally,” said Huska, Kelowna‘s head coach, whose team was outplayed in the opening 20 minutes as the Giants put heavy pressure on the Rockets. “I thought we were flat to start the game... it was as if we were almost afraid to make a mistake.
“But after the first period, we got ourselves going again and kept battling and came back and found a way to win.”
Entering the game, Kelowna had a 2-5 record against Vancouver, results that included the Giants winning the first five contests.
Now, though, it appears the Rockets have momentum against the Giants, having taken the last three – although two of those three wins were 3-2 overtime decisions, both at Prospera Place.
“It‘s important and it‘s hopefully what they‘ll remember should we see them in the playoffs,” said Huska. “Every time we play them, they play a very tight checking game. There‘s not a lot of room, and you have to be prepared to battle through it.
“Both teams did a good job of that, but we found a way to get that (winning) goal.”
Said Hay: “It was a pretty entertaining game. Both teams competed hard and both teams battled hard right to the end. Two overtime losses... if you get into overtime, both teams are pretty happy to get points. Kelowna played well against us down in our building (last time).
“They‘ve gained a lot of confidence playing against us, and it‘s up to us to do something to discourage them and we weren‘t able to do that.”
ICE CHIPS: The Rockets have four regular-season games left, and all take place this week. Kelowna hosts Portland on Wednesday, visits Kamloops on Friday, hosts Kamloops on Saturday, then treks to Spokane on Sunday... In Western Conference standings, Kelowna is in third with 90 points, one more than Spokane... Benn was credited with just one goal in Saturday‘s contest. However, Benn was later credited with Kelowna‘s first goal, tallied at 19:52 of the first and originally given to Colin Long... Benn now has 43 goals on the season.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=170023