Game notes vs. Hitmen

Tonight’s Preview The Rockets have points in 12 of their last 13 games (11-1-0-1) heading into tonight’s game against the Hitmen. The Rockets have only been out-shot once in their last 12 games. This is the first of three games in three nights for the Rockets, who travel to Portland Saturday night before ended the weekend Sunday in Seattle. The Rockets then leave for an Alberta road trip on Tuesday where they will play games in Lethbridge (Wed), Edmonton (Fri) and Calgary (Sat). Overall the Rockets will play six games in the next nine nights to conclude the month of February.

Against the Hitmen: These two teams met on October 28th at Prospera Place, with the Rockets earning a 4-1 win. The Rockets scored twice in the first period and twice in the third period in the victory. Stepan Novotny, no longer with the team, scored twice in the win while Lucas Bloodoff chipped in with two assists. Brett Bulmer and Cody Chikie also scored goals in the win while Adam Brown made 35 saves in the victory, including a penalty shot awarded to Hitmen forward Joel Broda in the first period. The Rockets were 2/8 on the power play while the Hitmen were 0 for 5.

Last Game Recap: Mitchell Callahan, Brett Bulmer and Antoine Corbin scored in a 4-3 shootout loss last Saturday to the Kamloops Blazers. The Rockets had a 3-1 lead eight minutes into the second period before the Blazers rallied back. Adam Brown was tagged with the loss in goal, making 22 saves. The Rockets fired 37 shots at the Blazers net, including 16 in the second period. The Rockets were 2 for 6 on the power play while the Blazers were 2/2.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not: Tyson Barrie has four points (1+3=4) in his last six games….Brandon McMillan has 2+6=8 in his last six games….McMillan is one point shy of 150 for his career….Geordie Wudrick has four goals in his last six games….The Rockets have opened the scoring in eleven of the last sixteen games…Barrie has 125 career assists….Mitchell Callahan has goals in back-to-back games…Adam Brown has started eleven of the teams last thirteen games.…Brett Bulmer has points in five of his last six games (1+6=7) and snapped a nine game goal scoring drought Saturday night against the Blazers….Adam Brown is 8-1-0-3 in his last twelve starts…Shane McColgan has points in six of his last eight (4+4=8)…Just eight of McColgan’s 23 goals this season have been scored on home ice. The Rockets have allowed just four power play goal against in their last nine games…Dallas Jackson is missing his 6th game tonight with a ankle injury (he was a game time decision vs. the Hitmen)…A win tonight would give the Rockets 30 victories for the 15th time in franchise history….Dallas Jackson has 3+6=9 in 10 games since being acquired at the trade deadline. Geordie Wudrick has 13+10=23 in 26 games with the Rockets since he was acquired from Swift Current in November….The Rockets have played 15 games since the trade deadline. The Rockets have a point in 13 of those 15 games and are 10-2-0-3 over that period… The Rockets are 5 and 3 in the shootout this season. The Rockets only shootout losses have come against Kamloops, Portland and Chilliwack. Adam Brown was in goal for all three shootout losses…Mark Guggenberger has not started since a February 5th game against Lethbridge…The Hitmen have not won a regular season game in Kelowna since November 4/05 in a 2-1 victory. Brett Carson scored the game winner at the 4:29 mark of the 3rd period on the power play…The Hitmen won game four in Kelowna in last years WHL final (6-2).

Game Day Tidbits: The Rockets are 4 and 5 in situations that feature three games in three nights….The Rockets have lost 26 times this season. Last season the Rockets lost just 21 times….Tyson Barrie is tied for the WHL scoring lead by defencemen with 62 points, the same number of points as Kevin Connauton of the Vancouver Giants.…The Rockets have been involved in twenty-six (26) one goal games this season. The Rockets are 14-7-2-3 in those twenty-six games…Tyson Barrie leads the team with 9 power play goals….Tyson Barrie has a team high 48 assists, 8 more than he had all of last season…McColgan is tied for the league lead in points by a rookie with 60, the same as Giants d-man Kevin Connauton….Ryan Huska recorded his 100th regular season victory December 4th against Edmonton…Defenceman Mitchell Chapman and forward Brett Bulmer are rated by NHL Central Scouting for this summers draft in Los Angeles. Chapman is rated 151st while Bulmer is ranked 164th among North American born skaters…The Rockets have 5 home games and 7 road games left for a total of 12. Of those 12 games, 5 are against American based teams and three against BC Division rivals. Four are against Central Division teams… Brandon McMillan collected his 100th career assist vs. Edmonton on February 3rd…The Rockets have eleven players with 10 or more goals. Last season the Rockets had 12 players with 10 or more goals.