Game Day: Rockets on the prowl for a win in Medicine Hat
Rockets @ Tigers
Saturday, December 15th, 2018
Game Time – 7:30 pm
Game Day Preview: Let’s wrap it up. This is the final game before the Christmas break as the Kelowna Rockets face the Medicine Hat Tigers. This is the lone meeting of the season between these two teams Last season, January 26, 2018, the Rockets were a 4-3 overtime winner with Cal Foote scoring the game-winner at the 3:01 mark. The Rockets are 6-0-1-1 in their last 8 visits to the Gas City’. The Rockets are 7 and 3 in their last 10 games before the Christmas break. The last time the Rockets played the final game in Medicine Hat before the Christmas break was December 18, 2004, in a 4-2 loss. Tyler Spurgeon and Kirt Hill scored in the loss. Last night the team suffered a 5-1 loss in Calgary. Kyle Crosbie had the lone goal in the teams’ 17th loss of the season. The Rockets are now 1-2-0-0 on the four games in five-nights road trip and have been out-scored 11-5. The Rockets are 11-7-2-0 in 20 games under head coach Adam Foote.
Who’s Hot: Nolan Foote has points in 6 of his last 7 games. Foote has 3+6=9 over that stretch…Leif Mattson has 6 goals in his last 10 games. The 19-year-old has registered at least one shot on goal in 33 of the teams 34 games this season. Kyle Topping has registered a point in 24 of the teams 34 games this season. Topping had a five-game point streak come to an end Wednesday. Topping had 2+5=7 over that period… The Rockets penalty killing unit is 24 for 26 in their last six road games.
Broadcasters Notebook: Dalton Gally faces his old team tonight. Gally was acquired from the Tigers October 10th for a 10th round WHL bantam pick. Gally played 135 games in Medicine Hat before being dealt to the Rockets….Erik Gardiner made his Kelowna Rockets debut in Medicine Hat December 13, 2016, after being acquired from the Regina Pats. A game later, in Red Deer, Gardiner would score a goal and collected an assist and was named the second star…The Rockets are sending a CHL high three players to the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game next month in Red Deer. Nolan Foote, Lassi Thomson and Kaedan Korczak will attend the game of the top 40 prospects. The game will take place January 23rd…Since going 1-8-0-0 to start the season, the team is 14-9-2-0 in their last 25 games….Kyle Topping’s next goal will be the 50th of his career…Leif Mattson has 4-two-goal games this season. Three of those four two-goal games have come on the road…The team has added 15-year-old Jackson Desouza to the roster for this road trip. The fourth round WHL Bantam pick in May is playing this season with the Okanagan Rockets of the BCMMHL…The Rockets have acquired the playing rights to 17-year-old forward Alex Swetlikoff from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 4th round bantam pick. Swetlikoff, a Kelowna product, was originally drafted in the third round by the Seattle Thunderbirds.…Lassi Thomson (Finland) and Libor Zabranski (Czech Republic) have been invited to the training camp for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships….The Rockets traded 19-year-old Jack Cowell to the Kootenay Ice November 29th for a third-round bantam pick. The trade was voided when Cowell failed to report… The Rockets are 6-8-1-0 against BC Division teams this season….The Rockets have only one December birthday to celebrate. Lane Zablocki officially turns 20 on December 27th….Four members of the Kelowna Rockets have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s November “Players to Watch’ List. Forward Nolan Foote is an ‘A’ prospect, meaning a first-round candidate. Kaedan Korczak and Lassi Thomson are ‘B’ prospects which means they are a second or third round candidate. Roman Basran is a ‘C’ prospect, which means he could be taken in the third to the seventh round…Adam Foote was officially named the new head coach of the Kelowna Rockets on October 23, 2018 replacing Jason Smith.,,The Rockets are 3-8-1-0 when playing the second game of back-to-backs.
Season Highs/Lows:
Most goals scored: 8 @ Victoria October 19/18 (8-2 W)
Most goals allowed: 9 vs. Seattle October 10th, 2018 (9-6 L)
Most shots on net: 45 @ Seattle October 6th, 2018 (4-1 L).
Fewest shots on net: 13 @ Edmonton November 17, 2018 (3-1 L)
Most shots allowed: 50 @ Portland November 10, 2018 (3-0 L)
Fewest shots allowed: 16 vs. Victoria December 7, 2018 (2-0 win)
Last time shut out at home: October 3rd, 2018 vs. Vancouver (5-0 L)
Last time shutout on road: November 10, 2018 @ Portland (3-0 L)
Last shutout at home: December 7, 2018 vs. Victoria (2-0 W – Roman Basran 16 saves)
Most power play goals allowed: 4 vs. Seattle October 10th, 2018 (9-6 L). T-Birds were 4/5 on the power play.
Most power play goals scored: 4 @ Victoria October 19, 2018 (8-2 W)
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
