Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Giants are meetings for the second time this season, and for the second time in the last four days. The Giants beat the Rockets 2-1 Wednesday night. It’s the second of ten meetings between these two teams over the course of the regular season. After tonight’s game the two teams won’t meet each other until October 8th when the Rockets return to Vancouver, before the Giants visit Kelowna October 24th. Last season the Rockets were just 1-7-0-0 against the Giants. The Rockets are coming off a 6-4 win in Everett last night. Dylan Hood (2+1=3) and Brandon McMillan (1+2=3) led the way offensively, while Evan Bloodoff (1+1) and Myles MacRae (1+1) also had multiple point games. Torrie Jung earned the win in goal making 31 saves. After tonight’s game against the Giants, the Rockets return to Kelowna to face the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday night.
Hood’s Hot Hand: Sophomore forward Dylan Hood scored his first and second goals of his WHL career in last night’s 6-4 win. Hood failed to score a goal in 47 games as a rookie last season. Evan Bloodoff had his first multiply point game of his young WHL career with a goal and an assist. Rookie Jesse Paradis earned his first career WHL point, with an assist in last night’s win. Paradis collected the ‘apple’ on Hood’s second goal of the game.
McMillan Leading the March: Sophomore forward Brandon McMillan leads the team in points with 6. McMillan’s six points are half of the 12 he registered in 55 games in his rookie season. McMillan had 2+10=12 all of last season. The Delta, BC resident has already surpassed his goal total from all of last season. McMillan and Luke Schenn lead the Rockets in plus/minus with a +4.
Taking the Show on the Road: The Rockets open a portion of their schedule playing three of the next four games on the road. The only home game over that stretch is next Friday against the Seattle Thunder Birds. In the big picture, the Rockets play 13 of their next 22 games on the road. The Rockets return home to face Seattle Friday before making stops in Seattle and Vancouver Thanksgiving weekend.
Quick Facts: Ryan Huska earned his first career WHL coaching win in last night’s 6-4 victory over the Tips….Last season it took until the Rockets fourth road game, before they recorded their first point on opposition ice. After that road win, the Rockets would drop their next 6 games on opposition ice…The Rockets six goal outburst on the road isn’t unusual, considering the team beat the Portland Winter Hawks 6-2 on December 6th of last season…The Rockets have scored 12 goals so far this season after three games, after scoring just three goals in their first three games a year ago…Kristofer Westblom has played in two of the Rockets first three games of the season…The Rockets have either carried the lead or have been tied going into the third period in all three games this season. The Rockets were up 4-2 on Tri City going into the third, and were up 1-0 just three minutes in the third period against the Giants. Last night the Rockets had a 4-3 lead on the Tips heading into the final frame…The Rockets have scored four of their 12 goals this season on the power play. Overall the Rockets are 4 for 14 with the man advantage this season….Of the 12 goals the Rockets have given up this season, 9 have been shorthanded.
Tough Schedule to Start Season: The Rockets are in a portion of their schedule playing teams that are predicted to challenge for a division title this season. In the teams next 10 games, they face Vancouver three times, Spokane and Seattle twice, and Kamloops, Everett and Calgary once.
Tonight’s Notables: Tysen Dowzak played in his 100th WHL game Wednesday night. Cody Almond is 6 games shy of 100 for his career. Colin Joe has the most games under his belt of anyone in the Rockets lineup. Joe has played 180 games, but is out with a wrist injury. James McEwan is a close second with 173 games in the WHL, and enters tonight’s game with 454 career penalty minutes. Justin Bernhardt is playing in career game 173 tonight. Bernhardt has 94 career points.
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