Rockets find winning ways in pair of home matchups on weekend

The weekend started when the Kelowna Rockets took down the Vancouver Giants 5-4 on Friday night at Prospera Place.

Vancouver scored two quick goals early in the first period before the Rockets charged back with five unanswered goals. The Giants pushed back with two goals in the third period. 

"If you were to look at the first seven minutes of the game, the way we started obviously wasn't ideal," said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette. 

"I really liked how we finished the first period. I thought the second was really strong, arguably one of our better of the year, which was great because typically it's a lull for us. The decisions we were making as we wore on, and there weren't a ton of them like I said to the group, if we want to turn a corner those soft little hope plays aren't going to cut it." 

Carson Golder and Gabriel Szturc both posted a goal and two assists, while Jari Kykkanen made 25 saves on 29 shots.

The weekend game of note however was Saturday as The Kelowna Rockets shut out the Prince Albert Raiders 4-0 

New York Rangers prospect Talyn Boyko made 51 saves to secure the Rockets win and his second shutout of the season.

"PA works but I've got two words, Talyn Boyko," said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in his post-game interview. "He was outstanding for us tonight, 50 plus shots for a shutout was unbelievable. When we were killing penalties, we were able to get some sticks on things that maybe took some interesting bounces, but Talyn was square to it, got a piece of it, and was able to get it to the corner.

The Rockets played their second consecutive game with five defencemen due to injuries, Mallette talked about his younger group having to step up while John Babcock and Marek Rocak both missed their fourth game with upper body injuries.

"We rode five defencemen two games in a row, expecting them to do certain things. Last night was the same, I thought they did a really good job of allowing our goaltender to see the puck and they competed extremely hard back there."

With the win, the Rockets win streak has been extended to a season-high three games.

UP NEXT

The Rockets will head up north for games in Prince George against the Cougars on Tuesday and Wednesday night at 7:00 pm.

Kelowna will return to Prospera Place for two home games on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 pm, hosting Prince George on Friday and the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday.