Brown Stays Perfect

r Adam Brown’s days of flying under the radar may be coming to an end.

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r The 17-year-old rookie goalie improved his record to 7-0 in backstopping the Rockets to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday evening. With the win, the Rockets improved to 12-7 on the season and 8-1 on home ice. They’ve now won six of their last seven with Brown getting credit for the all of those wins.

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r Meanwhile, all the fuss about the scoring exploits of the WHL’s leading scorer, Jamie Benn, and his equally prolific line mate, Colin Long, has overshadowed the steady, stealth rise of Brown, a native of Yorba Linda, California. His 1.67 goals against is third best in the league and goes nicely with his perfect record and .912 save percentage.

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r As a result, veteran, Kris Lazaruk, may have to wait a bit longer for his chance at redemption. Pressed into full time duty when Lazaruk faltered, Brown has earned the confidence of his team mates and coaches. Only time will tell if his ascension to the starter’s role is permanent.

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r Aside from Brown, Dylan Hood played an outstanding game for Kelowna. Overlooked in the Three Star honours, Hood had a big second period goal that tied the game and added an assist on Jesse Paradis’ empty net clincher. Hood was also the most physically involved Kelowna forward in the game while skating hard and forcing the play – particularly in a forechecking role.

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r Though both clubs had played last evening, the Rockets came into the game with a clear advantage. The Oil Kings played in Everett Saturday and didn’t arrive in Kelowna until 3:00 am. The early, 5 pm start time only exaggerated their problems. What’s more, their next game is back in Seattle early this week.

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r Never-the-less, the Oil Kings sprang on top following a first period goal by Craig McCallum, his 6^th of the year and 3^rd in his past 2 games. After forcing Brown to stop his first backhand attempt, McCallum grabbed his own rebound and slid the second try under the Kelowna goalie’s pads.

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r As expected, former Rocket goalie, Torrie Jung, got the start between the pipes for Edmonton and looked sharp, especially in the first period. Kelowna didn’t test him severely as his mates did a strong job of keeping the attacking Rocket forwards to the outside and eliminating second chance opportunities. But, he did make strong saves on Lucas Bloodoff and Tyson Barrie.

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r Kelowna tied the game in the early moments of period 2. Jung stopped Brandon McMillan’s wrap-around try and then stuffed Cody Almond on the rebound. But, the puck came to a wide open Novotny who slid the puck into a gaping goal at 1:47.

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r Edmonton regained the lead, however, at 5:28 of the middle frame. Jesse Pearson scored his first career WHL goal with assists to McCallum and Captain, Brenden Dowd.

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r Then late in the period, Tyson Barrie made a rush down the left wing and directed the puck at the net. It bounced crazily to the right wing circle where Hood swatted it home for his 4^th of the year.

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r The decisive third period started off with both clubs trying to keep the puck in safe areas while waiting for a break. Kelowna got one when they earned their first power play of the night at 9:37. But, the break they got in taking advantage of the power play to score the eventual game winner was huge.

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r Some Rocket fired the puck towards the net. On the way, it struck a leg or stick and fluttered high into the air. Jung spotted it as it started to sail over his head. But, alas, he couldn’t reach it and the puck landed an agonizing inch across the goal line. Apparently, it was Long who initially shot the puck as he was given credit for his 14^th goal of the year.

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r Later, Long worked some magic with last night’s hero, Jamie Benn, down low in the Oil Kings’ zone. A short Long pass from behind the net found Benn standing alone 10 feet to Jung’s left. Benn rifled the puck home through the five-hole to make it 4-2 at 15:18.

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r Jesse Paradis finished off the night’s scoring with an empty net marker at 17:51.

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r Unlike their opponents on Sunday, the Rockets are entering a break in their schedule. They’ll hike off to Tri-City for a game Tuesday but won’t play again after that until they host Vancouver on November 12^th.

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