Malc
10-11-2010, 12:25 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
Heading into Everett, the numbers didn‘t favour the Rockets. In fact, the stats seemed piled against them.
In what was an ugly weekend of travelling, the Rockets closed out a busy stretch on Sunday by visiting the Silvertips. The game was Kelowna‘s third in three nights, against a team that was well rested, having had the last four days off. That the the Rockets didn‘t arrive in Everett until 4 a.m., roughly 13 hours before game time at 5 p.m., only added to the ugliness.
After two periods, the stats started adding up to a loss. Enter a late-game rally, sparked, by all things, a rare power-play goal.
Mitchell Callahan scored twice for Kelowna, including the power-play goal at 4:46 of the third period, as the Rockets overcame a 3-0 deficit to post a 4-3 shootout victory over the Silvertips. The win was Kelowna‘s second in as many nights, having clipped the visiting Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
“Being down 3-0, in (a three games in three days) situation, I thought our players had their best effort in the third period,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose team logged approximately 1,700 kilometres over the three-game span. “They stuck with it. We had a very difficult second period but a very good third, and I‘m happy they got rewarded with two points.”
Tyler Maxwell, with two goals, both shorthanded markers, and Campbell Elynuik scored for Everett (4-1-0-1), which led 1-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks.
Callahan‘s second goal for Kelowna (2-4-0-0) came at 13:50 of the third, while Zach Franko, with his second goal of the season, completed the Rockets‘ comeback at 18:55 of the third.
Rookie Jordon Cooke made 35 saves for Kelowna, including 30 over the final 45 minutes. It was Cooke‘s first WHL appearance, and the 17-year-old from Leduc, Alta., was named the game‘s first star. Kent Simpson stopped 20 shots. In the shootout session, for Everett, Maxwell missed and Landon Ferraro was stopped by Cooke, while, for Kelowna, Geordie Wudrick and Shane McColgan scored.
“He was great,” Huska said of Cooke. “For his first game in the league, he was great. We‘re all very very excited and happy for his game and he deserved to be the first star.”
Speaking of first, the Rockets also scored their first power-play goal in four games. Yes, four games. On Friday in Vancouver, the Rockets went 0-for-9 on the power play, as they also were in Saturday‘s home win over the Raiders. Prior to playing the Silvertips, Kelowna‘s extra-man advantage was 0-for-23 in its past three games.
That the Rockets gave up two shorthanded goals, then rallied from a three-goal deficit in Everett – one of the toughest rinks in the WHL – while also snapping a power-play drought and using that power-play goal to help spark the comeback, well, simply said, that‘s not an every-game occurrence.
“The first period was actually a good period for us,” said Huska. “The second period was awful, and there were a lot of down faces after that. But they managed to refocus themselves and, again, found a way to win by putting pucks on the net and they started to skate.
“Mitchell‘s (first goal) was something for sure. One, it was a power-play goal, and, two, it brought back the energy to our bench. That kind of started it for us, for sure, but we also had another catalyst, and that was (Rockets forward) Jessey Astles fighting (Everett defenceman Nick Walters) in the second. That was something, too, and it woke our guys up a little bit.”
With four points in two games after Friday‘s loss, it appears the Rockets have turned the corner on their four-game winless start to the season.
“It turned out to be a pretty good weekend,” said Huska. “Being in a tough situation, with three in three nights, with a lot of travel, things turned out pretty well.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were D Tyson Barrie (hamstring), D Brendon Wall, C Andreas Stene and LW Jason Seibert. Everett‘s scratches included C Clayton Cumiskey (upper-body injury) and D Paul Sohor.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=301371
Heading into Everett, the numbers didn‘t favour the Rockets. In fact, the stats seemed piled against them.
In what was an ugly weekend of travelling, the Rockets closed out a busy stretch on Sunday by visiting the Silvertips. The game was Kelowna‘s third in three nights, against a team that was well rested, having had the last four days off. That the the Rockets didn‘t arrive in Everett until 4 a.m., roughly 13 hours before game time at 5 p.m., only added to the ugliness.
After two periods, the stats started adding up to a loss. Enter a late-game rally, sparked, by all things, a rare power-play goal.
Mitchell Callahan scored twice for Kelowna, including the power-play goal at 4:46 of the third period, as the Rockets overcame a 3-0 deficit to post a 4-3 shootout victory over the Silvertips. The win was Kelowna‘s second in as many nights, having clipped the visiting Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
“Being down 3-0, in (a three games in three days) situation, I thought our players had their best effort in the third period,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose team logged approximately 1,700 kilometres over the three-game span. “They stuck with it. We had a very difficult second period but a very good third, and I‘m happy they got rewarded with two points.”
Tyler Maxwell, with two goals, both shorthanded markers, and Campbell Elynuik scored for Everett (4-1-0-1), which led 1-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks.
Callahan‘s second goal for Kelowna (2-4-0-0) came at 13:50 of the third, while Zach Franko, with his second goal of the season, completed the Rockets‘ comeback at 18:55 of the third.
Rookie Jordon Cooke made 35 saves for Kelowna, including 30 over the final 45 minutes. It was Cooke‘s first WHL appearance, and the 17-year-old from Leduc, Alta., was named the game‘s first star. Kent Simpson stopped 20 shots. In the shootout session, for Everett, Maxwell missed and Landon Ferraro was stopped by Cooke, while, for Kelowna, Geordie Wudrick and Shane McColgan scored.
“He was great,” Huska said of Cooke. “For his first game in the league, he was great. We‘re all very very excited and happy for his game and he deserved to be the first star.”
Speaking of first, the Rockets also scored their first power-play goal in four games. Yes, four games. On Friday in Vancouver, the Rockets went 0-for-9 on the power play, as they also were in Saturday‘s home win over the Raiders. Prior to playing the Silvertips, Kelowna‘s extra-man advantage was 0-for-23 in its past three games.
That the Rockets gave up two shorthanded goals, then rallied from a three-goal deficit in Everett – one of the toughest rinks in the WHL – while also snapping a power-play drought and using that power-play goal to help spark the comeback, well, simply said, that‘s not an every-game occurrence.
“The first period was actually a good period for us,” said Huska. “The second period was awful, and there were a lot of down faces after that. But they managed to refocus themselves and, again, found a way to win by putting pucks on the net and they started to skate.
“Mitchell‘s (first goal) was something for sure. One, it was a power-play goal, and, two, it brought back the energy to our bench. That kind of started it for us, for sure, but we also had another catalyst, and that was (Rockets forward) Jessey Astles fighting (Everett defenceman Nick Walters) in the second. That was something, too, and it woke our guys up a little bit.”
With four points in two games after Friday‘s loss, it appears the Rockets have turned the corner on their four-game winless start to the season.
“It turned out to be a pretty good weekend,” said Huska. “Being in a tough situation, with three in three nights, with a lot of travel, things turned out pretty well.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were D Tyson Barrie (hamstring), D Brendon Wall, C Andreas Stene and LW Jason Seibert. Everett‘s scratches included C Clayton Cumiskey (upper-body injury) and D Paul Sohor.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=301371