Rockets win, blank Giants

[Malc]

By Doyle Potenteau

The Kelowna Rockets are one win away from earning a date with the Calgary Hitmen.
At Vancouver, Ryley Grantham scored in the first period and Mark Guggenberger made 25 saves for Kelowna as the Rockets defeated the Vancouver Giants 1-0 in WHL playoff action on Saturday night. With the win, Kelowna now leads the Western Conference championship 3-2.

The best-of-seven series – which the Giants led 2-1 after Game 3, but now find themselves on the brink of elimination, – resumes Monday with Game 6 at Prospera Place in Kelowna. A victory tomorrow evening earns Kelowna a berth in the WHL final against the Eastern Conference champion Hitmen.

“We still have a lot left to do,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska after Kelowna blanked Vancouver for a second straight game. On Thursday, the Rockets were near perfect in a 3-0 shutout victory in Game 4. On Saturday in Game 5, the Giants pushed hard in the third and were unlucky to capitalize, wasting a five-on-three power play.

Defencemen Brandon McMillan, for hooking at 2:44, and Tyler Myers, for delay of game at 3:34, were penalized just 50 seconds part. Kelowna killed off those two minors, then wound up surviving a wild six-on-five affair for the final minute.

“We don‘t want to leave anything to chance,” continued Huska. “We‘re going to need a good effort because we know what‘s coming down the pipe: Vancouver‘s going to have a great effort, and it‘s going to be the most difficult game of the series.”

As for the game‘s wild finish, Huska said “it‘s not the way we like to have games end. But the five-on-three, the guys we had out there did a good job of blocking shots and they had active sticks. And Mark was very good.

“You need to get that from your goalie, and he‘s been very good for us in these playoffs so far.”

At the other end, Giants goaltender Tyson Sexsmith also had a great effort, making 22 saves.

“We need to bury our chances. We didn‘t get a whole lot of chances, but we got more than Game 4,” said Sexsmith. “We have to able to bear down and bury our chances, especially on a 5-on-3.”

Added Giants coach Don Hay: “It was a real tight checking game for both teams. They didn‘t get a lot of scoring chances after they scored the goal. We didn‘t get a lot of scoring chances.”

Kelowna‘s bench boss admitted that the Rockets were lucky that Vancouver didn‘t score, stating “Evander Kane missed an empty net. But when you‘re working hard, you seem to get the bounces.”

Grantham‘s goal, scored short side after tucking it home upstairs late in the first at 18:22, was his third marker of the post-season.

“It‘s the time of year where we need everyone to contribute,” said Huska. “And (Saturday), Ryley was able to do that.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna was 0-for-1 on the power play; Vancouver was 0-for-3... The three stars were Kelowna‘s Tyler Myers and Cody Almond plus Sexsmith... Saturday‘s attendance was 10,083.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=181734

[Malc]

By Doyle Potenteau

Pretty, it wasn‘t. Still, Mark Guggenberger and the Kelowna Rockets don‘t have anything bad to say about Saturday‘s victory, ugly and gritty as it was.

“It‘s playoff hockey... whatever gets the job done,” Guggenberger said after backstopping the Rockets to a 1-0 road victory over the Vancouver Giants in WHL playoff action. With the victory, Kelowna now holds a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference championship.

The best-of-seven series resumes this evening with Game 6 at Prospera Place. A Rockets win tonight places Kelowna in the league champion-ship against the Calgary Hitmen, the Eastern Conference champions, while a Giants victory means Game 7 in Vancouver on Tuesday night.

“It was a greasy game, and (Monday) is going to be even bigger,” Guggenberger said Sunday after his 25-save effort in Saturday‘s Game 5. “We‘ve been going out and playing as hard as we can, and, hopefully, we get the breaks.”

The Rockets had their fair share of the breaks on Saturday, especially in the third period. Vancouver outshot Kelowna 15-7 in the final frame and had a long five-on-three power play, but bad puck luck plus active sticks by the Rockets and a good effort by Guggenberger prevented the Giants from scoring.

“It‘s not exactly how you want to finish off the third period, but we found a way,” said Guggenberger, who, in his first playoff run, now has back-to-back post-season shutouts. “We blocked a lot of shots and found a way to get the job done.

“We have to come out hard, defend home ice and treat it like it‘s Game 7.”

Kelowna‘s goalie wasn‘t the only Rocket to say Saturday‘s victory wasn‘t pretty.

“Gritty is a pretty good word to describe it. Maybe greasy,” said Rockets captain Colin Long. “It probably wasn‘t very fun to watch for most people, but all that matters is we won.”

“It was grind-it out style of game,” said defenceman Tysen Dowzak. “Berger had himself a heck of a game, and we need efforts like that every night. It‘s a good win for us, and we‘re looking forward to Monday.

“Each game gets tougher and tougher as you go down the stretch, and (Monday) is no exception. We expect them to come out strong and we‘re going to have to match that intensity. It‘s going to be a good game, from start to finish, and, hopefully, things work out for us.”

The Rockets appear to be on a defensive roll for Game 6. In Thursday‘s 3-0 win in Game 4, Kelowna outshot Vancouver 34-14, and limited the Giants to 12 shots in the first two periods. In Game 5, Vancouver held the edge at 25-23, thanks to its 15-shot flurry in the third, but was limited to just 10 shots, including just four in the middle frame.

“Our back-end is feeling pretty confident right now,” said Dowzak. “But, in saying that, Vancouver has a potent offence and we have to keep that in mind. We can‘t get too full of ourselves; we really have to keep our focus.”

“Winning Game 5 was pretty huge for us to get a chance to close it out at home,” added Long. “It seems like we‘re coming together pretty nicely, and the guys are starting to figure it out. It‘s nice to limit a team, especially two games in a row, but we need to come out (today) with our best effort of the series.”

For the Giants, facing tonight‘s win-or-lose scenario isn‘t new to them. Earlier this month, Vancouver rallied from a 3-2 deficit to Spokane in its second-round series to defeat the Chiefs 4-3. The Giants won Game 6, 3-2 in double overtime at Spokane, then blanked the Chiefs 1-0, in overtime, on home ice in Game 7.

“It‘s good for us to know that we can do it,” Vancouver defenceman Craig Schira told The Province before the team boarded the bus for the trip to Kelowna on Sunday. “We‘ve been here before.

“They play really well in their building. We have to have composure with the puck and be able to get through the neutral zone and get shots on their goalie.”

ICE CHIPS: The Rockets didn‘t skate on Sunday, though the team met briefly in the afternoon... So far, Kelowna is 11-4 in the post-season; Vancouver is 10-6... The Rockets are 7-3 in their past 10 games; the Giants are 4-6... Leading scorers this series – Kelowna: C Mikael Backlund (1-4-5), C Ian Duval (4-0-4), LW Jamie Benn (3-1-4), C Cody Almond (2-1-3). Vancouver: LW Lance Bouma (2-1-3), RW Craig Cunningham (1-2-3), LW Casey Pierro-Zabotel (1-2-3), D Brent Regner (0-3-3)... Most penalized – Kelowna: Almond (15 penalty minutes), D Curt Gogol (11). Vancouver: Pierro-Zabotel (12), LW Evander Kane (10)... Goalies – Kelowna: Mark Guggenberger: 1.69 goals-against average, .926 save percentage. Vancouver: Tyson Sexsmith: 2.27 goals-against average, .920 save percentage.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=181880

[Boltz9]

Good Job Rockets!... I think ya won (Under Review). Good job on making sure the WHL doesnt get the Vancouver - Calgary matchup that you know they wanted.