Courier: Game report
r By Doyle Potenteau – Kelowna Daily Courier
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r A ate push helped the Kelowna Rockets distance themselves from the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night.
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r At Kamloops, Mitchell Callahan and Codey Ito scored late in the third period for Kelowna, as the Rockets broke a 3-3 deadlock en route to a 5-3 victory over the Blazers in WHL action. The win pushed Kelowna‘s lead over Kamloops to four points in Western Conference standings.
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r Kelowna‘s small lead, however, could be short-lived, as last night‘s game was the first of a home-and-home set between the two B.C. Division rivals, with Kelowna playing host to tonight‘s 7 p.m. tilt at Prospera Place. And with both teams jockeying for sixth place, trying to avoid a first-round playoff series with either Tri-City or Vancouver, odds are tonight‘s contest will be a tight one – both clubs have near-identical remaining schedules, with 13 games left, and this evening‘s meeting will be the last head-to-head affair of the season.
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r “The big thing for us is that we haven‘t played well in this building yet this season,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose team is 2-5 against Kamloops this season. After going 9-0 last season, Friday‘s win was the first time this season Kelowna won in Kamloops.
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r “We came out with a good effort,” continued Huska. “We can‘t get both (weekend wins) if we don‘t get the first one, and the guys worked hard for it.
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r “(The game) was chippy, but the guys worked and competed and they won.”
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r Brandon McMillan, who lit the lamp twice but left the game early in the second with an apparent leg injury, and Geordie Wudrick also scored for Kelowna (29-26-2-2),which, for the fourth game in a row, played without injured defenceman Dallas Jackson (ankle).
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r Jackson is listed as doubtful for tonight‘s return match. McMillan, meanwhile, was hurt at 6:10 of the second when he crashed into the end boards while trying to go wide. The Rockets‘ top forward missed one shift, came back for another, then left.
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r Jordan DePape, Ryan Funk and Brendan Ranford replied for Kamloops (26-27-2-4), which was outshot 45-20.
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r Adam Brown made 17 saves for the Rockets, while Kurtis Mucha made 40 stops for the Blazers.
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r “It was an OK game (flow-wise),” said Huska. “But, to be honest, it reminded me of Kamloops and Kelowna of old. There were a few fights and a few scrums that slowed it down, but, otherwise, I thought the game was OK.
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r “Both teams are desperate for points, and they‘re fighting for the (sixth) spot. I assume both teams are going to come out hungry, and that‘s not a bad thing, as long as there aren‘t any cheap plays going on.
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r “But, as I said, I liked the way our guys played for a full 60 minutes.”
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