Rockets game notes vs. Americans

Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Americans are meeting for the 3rd time this season. The Rockets are 0-2-0-0, having been out-scored 10-3. Following tonight’s game these two teams meet December 5th in Kelowna to conclude the seasonal series. The Rockets enter tonight’s game having lost seven straight regular season games at the Toyota Center. The last time the Rockets earned two points in this building was February 25/06 in a 4-3 win. Three members of the Rockets who participated in that game are now in the NHL. Alex Edler (Canucks), Luke Schenn (Leafs) and Blake Comeau (Islanders) dressed in that game.
The Rockets enter tonight’s game with two losses in their last eight games. Overall the team has lost two straight. Following tonight’s game the Rockets host the Vancouver Giants tomorrow night before visiting the Giants in Vancouver on Sunday (5 pm).

Season Series Breakdown: The Americans have out-shot the Rockets 58-53 in the first two games. The Rockets are 3/10 (30%) on the power play while the Americans are 3 for 7 (43%). The Rockets have not scored a first period goal in the seasonal series.
Period: 1 2 3 Total
Rockets: 0 2 1 3
Americans: 3 3 4 10

Taking Licks @ Toyota Center: The Rockets have lost 7 straight regular season games at the Toyota Centre, having been out-scored 34-7 over that period. In the big picture the Rockets have just one win in their last 12 visits (1-10-0-0 with one tie). The last time the Rockets earned two regular season wins in Kennewick was during the 2002-03 season when the team earned back-to-back 3-2 OT and 5-3 wins.

Young and Restless: The Rockets have the youngest defensive core in the BC Division with an average age of 17.29. Chilliwack is next at 17.88 followed by Prince George and Vancouver with an average age of 18. The Kamloops Blazers have the oldest defensive core in the division at 18.13. If you are wondering, Tri City has an average age of 18.38 on the blue line. The Rockets are the only team in the BC Division without a defenseman either 19 or 20 years-old.

Last Game Recap? Kyle St. Denis and Shane McColgan each had 1+2=3 in the Rockets 5-4 home ice loss Saturday night to the Everett Silvertips. The Rockets were 2/9 on the power play while giving up two power play goals. The Rockets out-shot the Tips 36-25. Adam Brown suffered the loss in goal.

Top Three Power Play: The Rockets have scored sixteen power play goals (16/45=36%) in their last eight games. The Rockets have scored a power play goal in ten of the eleven games this season. The Rockets were 0/8 in a 4-1 loss in Kamloops September 25th. The Rockets own the 3rd best power play in the league.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not: Brandon McMillan has points in all eight games he’s played this season, but is sidelined 2 weeks with a cracked bone in his foot. McMillan has 4+11=15 this season. Stepan Novotny has points in 9 of the 11 games this season. Shane McColgan is riding an eight game point streak (5+10=15). Mitchell Callahan has points in six of his last eight games (2+6=8). Kyle St. Denis has thirteen points in his last seven games (7+6=13). Lucas Bloodoff has goals in five of his last nine games.

Game Day Tidbits: The Rockets traded 18 year-old defenseman Aaron Borejko to the Red Deer Rebels Wednesday for a 4th round bantam pick….Rockets 16 year-old Shane McColgan is tied for the league lead in rookie scoring in the WHL (5+11=16)….Veteran defenseman Tyson Barrie has missed 8 straight games after being injured September 25th in Kamloops…Spencer Main already has more points (6) than he had in 61 games all of last season. Main had three points (1+2=3) as a rookie in 2008/09…Main has points in 4 of his last 6 games. Main has 2+4=6 over that period…The Rockets are 6-4-1-0 after eleven games this season. Last year the Rockets were 6-5-0-0 after eleven games…The Rockets have scored 46 goals in eleven games this season after scoring 40 times in the teams first eleven games one season ago…The Rockets have allowed 38 goals against this season after surrendering 38 goals after eleven games last year…Ryan Huska has 91 regular season victories as the Rockets head coach …Huska has been named an assistant coach for two games of the Subway Super Series next month in BC. Huska will be behind the bench when Team Canada faces Russia in games November 25 (Victoria), and November 26th (Kelowna).