Rockets push for five in a row VS. Winterhawks
The Kelowna Rockets will look to make it five wins in a row when they take on the Winterhawks on Saturday night for the first half of their double header this weekend in Portland.
The Rockets are on a tear right now, having won four straight. The last win came against their divisional rival the Victoria Royals.
Assistant coach Kris Mallette credit’s the players focus and hard work for the recent success.
“We won the last four games because we’ve really been paying good attention to detail, everyone is being held accountable, and we’ve just had good all-around hard work from the players.”
Going into the game against Victoria, the Rockets power play had been struggling. Wednesday night against the Royals was a different story as the Rockets were 3-for-8 with the man advantage. Mallette says not much changed about the power play except that it was executed properly.
“I think the biggest difference was the quick puck movement. We also started shooting the puck a lot more and we were getting traffic to the front of the net” said Mallette. “When you work the puck around quickly like that you get the goalie moving, and good things happen when you get the puck to the net.”
Portland is always a tough team to play against. Mallette believes the key to beating the Winterhawks comes with shutting down their mobility.
“Portland is a quick skating team. Their D is very active and mobile and they like to attack off the rush” Mallette said. “We just have to make sure we’re physical on their D and we take away time and space, and we will be successful.”
Though the Rockets are on a four game winning streak the coaching staff feels there are always things to improve on. Mallette says that still begins with discipline.
“Discipline for us is still a concern. We took another seven penalties last game. We’re not taking the selfish penalties anymore but we are still taking penalties” said Mallette. “We have to try and limit the opportunities we give them with the man advantage.”
The Rockets head into Saturday night with a 7-7-0-0 record that has them tied for third place in the B.C. division with the Kamloops Blazers.
Portland is currently sitting in third in the U.S. division with a record of 8-6-0-0.
The Rockets and Winterhawks will be right back at it again on Sunday night to close out the weekend.
The Rockets next home game is on Tuesday November 1st when they host their neighboring rival the Kamloops Blazers.
Tickets for upcoming home games are available through www.selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.
