Rockets game notes vs. Bruins

Tonight’s Preview: Happy New Year! The Rockets enter tonight’s contest having lost five straight games to Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Kamloops and Chilliwack. Tonight‘s game against the Bruins is the 6th meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rockets are 4-0-1-0, having won twice at home while winning twice on the road and losing once in overtime. The Rockets are in a stretch of games where 6 of the next 8 are on home ice. The only road games over that period are in Vancouver Sunday and Kamloops on January 8th. The Rockets are playing their 4th game in 7 nights this evening.

Breaking it down: The Rockets have out-scored the Bruins 9-4 at home thanks to 6-4 and 3-0 wins. On the road the Rockets have out-scored the Bruins 12-7. The Rockets have won by scores of 7-2 and 2-1 before losing 4-3 in overtime at Prospera Centre. Overall the Rockets have out-scored the Bruins 21-11 in the five games.

Last Game Recap: Tyson Barrie, Brett Bulmer and Mitchell Callahan scored goals in the Rockets 4-3 overtime loss Thursday night in Chilliwack. Barrie and Callahan scored power play goals. Mark Guggenberger was solid in goal making 38 saves. The Rockets were out-shot 42-26.

Barrie anchors back end: Rockets defenseman Tyson Barrie has 138 career points, the third highest point total for defenseman in franchise history. Josh Gorges is the franchise leader with 152 career points followed by Mike Card with 147.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not: Kyle Verdino earned his first point of the season on an assist Thursday night in Chilliwack. It was Verdino’s first point in 30 games dating back to last season. Verdino is still looking for his first WHL goal, having gone 117 games without scoring. Former Rockets defenceman Tyson Dowzak went 129 games without scoring a goal….Tyson Barrie has points in 25 of his last 27 games. Barrie is riding a four game point streak with 2+3=5 over that period….Shane McColgan has gone six games without a goal…Mitchell Callahan has goal in three of his last four games.…Mark Guggenberger has made an appearance in five of the Rockets last six games.…Brett Bulmer has points in three of his last four games (1+2=3)…The Rockets have been out-scored 22-8 during this five game losing streak. The Rockets are 4 for 25 on the power play (16%) over that period.

Game Day Tidbits: Mitchell Callahan has 3 more points than the 27 he registered in his rookie season….Spencer Main has 15 more points than all of last season. Main has 18 points this season, after recording 1+2=3 as a rookie…Tyson Barrie is second in league scoring by defenceman. Barrie is 2 points back of league leader Kevin Connauton of the Vancouver Giants.…Shane McColgan is attempting to become the highest scoring 16 year-old in Kelowna Rockets history. McColgan has 39 points, 2 fewer than franchise leader Marty Flichel, who had 41 points (21+20=41) during the 1992-93 season…The Rockets have been involved in sixteen (16) one goal games this season. The Rockets are 8-6-2-0 in those sixteen games…Kyle St. Denis leads the team with 8 power play goals….Tyson Barrie has a team high 32 assist, 10 fewer than he had all of last season…McColgan is three points back of the Giants Kevin Connauton for the WHL scoring lead by rookies……The Rockets are 18-20-2-0 after forty games this season. Last year the Rockets were 25-15-0-0 after forty games…The Rockets have scored 126 goals in forty games this season after scoring 137 times in the teams first forty games one season ago…The Rockets have allowed 129 goals against this season after surrendering 104 goals after forty games last year…Ryan Huska recorded his 100th regular season victory December 4th against Edmonton…Kyle St. Denis is missing his 9th straight game with a concussion…Lucas Bloodoff is missing his 13th straight game tonight after being hurt against the Kootenay Ice November 28th…Tyson Barrie was drafted in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft. Of the players selected in the opening round, only Brayden Schenn (49) and Ryan Howse (46) have more points than Barrie (40).