Eight straight, but not so great

• It's not often you leave Prospera Place after a Rockets win feeling so....confused. Confused because of the teams lack of jump, energy and effort. The Rockets won for the 8th straight time Friday night - which is well and good - but the home team was so hospitable that they were almost willing to give the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes an opportunity to snap a six game losing streak. This one was too close for comfort in a 3-2 victory.
• For the second straight night forward Geordie Wudrick scored the game winning goal after a third period goal mouth scramble. Lucas Bloodoff took two whacks at it, only to be denied by the left pad of Canes goaltender Linden Rowat. Wudrick also jammed away at it before somehow getting the puck over the goal line to give the Rockets a 3-2 lead. Wudrick's goal came with just over 5 minutes left in the third period.
• One of the bright spots for the Hurricanes was goaltender Linden Rowat. Rowat made 43 saves including 19 in the first period. The 20 year-old goaltender wasn't the only reason why the Hurricanes had a chance to end the Rockets winning streak, but Rowat gave his club a good chance of getting into the win column for the first time in seven games. Rowat was consistently the best player on the ice.
• I also liked the play of Hurricanes defenceman Brennan Yadlowski. Yadlowski logged a ton of ice time and was steady in his own zone.
• The Hurricanes played this game with just 15 skaters, three under the league limit. They worked hard under tough circumstances.
• The Rockets were without defenceman Dallas Jackson, who is sidelined with a leg injury.
• The Hurricanes will feel like world beaters after this game, especially after being destroyed in back-to-back losses to Chilliwack and Vancouver. While the one goal loss will feel like a triumph, in reality, the Rockets were just that bad. Sorry Hurricane fans, but the truth sometimes hurts.
• Am I too critical? Maybe. But I've seen this team play at an extremely high level. I realize they can't preform at an optimum level every night, but what we saw Friday is well below the standards of even an average night for this team.
• Mark Guggenberger came within inches of doing something goaltenders rarely do...score a goal. With the Hurricanes net empty for the extra attacker, Guggenberger found the puck on his stick, saw no pressure around him and elected to lift the puck all the way down the ice. The puck would eventually hit the outside of the post resulting in an icing call and a faceoff inside the Rockets zone.
• I don't mind the goaltender attempting for the empty net goal, but in a one goal game is it a wise decision? The play creates a key faceoff, enabling the visitors another chance to tie the game. If Guggenberger scores, we don't have this conversation.
• Two big hits in this one, one comical , the other bone crushing. The comical hit came when forward Lucas Bloodoff was hit in front of the Rockets bench. The momentum has Bloodoff making contact with teammate Codey Ito on the bench. Ito ends up losing his balance and tumbling over the bench, landing on his rear end. Rockets assistant coach Dan Lambert had a good chuckle as he had a front row seat to the tumble. The crowd also let out a laugh after seeing the domino affect on video replay.
• Rockets rookie Brett Bulmer had a nice open ice hit on Jacob Berglund at the Hurricanes blue line that sent the European forward flying. Props to Berglund for staying in the game.
• The win moves the Rockets two points up on Kamloops for 6th place in the Western Conference. The Rockets remain 8 points back of 5th place Spokane.