Monday, February 1, 2010

I think I've seen everything now

  • Ok, now I’ve seen everything. Dallas Jackson’s shorthanded goal in overtime Sunday night lifted the Kelowna Rockets to a 2-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds. The way the goal was scored still has me shaking my head in disbelief. The goal is the result of a two on none breakaway involving Jackson and teammate Brandon McMillan. After a golden scoring chance by T-Birds leading scorer Prab Rai, the puck appears to go between the two T-Bird defenceman and slowly makes its way towards the Seattle blue line. McMillan recognizes this and races to the loose puck and skates with it on right wing before distributing the puck to Jackson, who comes out of no where to join the rush on the left side and chips the puck over Seattle goaltender Calvin Pickard. The goal is scored with Rockets forward Geordie Wudrick in the box for goaltender interference. Amazing.
  • Great recognition by both McMillan and Jackson on the game winner. If McMillan is snoozing, he races to the puck and simply shoots it behind the T-Birds net. You have to remember that he’s killing a penalty. For Jackson to see the two T-Bird d-men getting caught flat footed and then racing hard to join the attack on the scoring chance is awfully impressive.
  • Jackson is the hero in this game, yet his defensive play against speedy forward Prab Rai was also impressive. Rai was often times attempting to skate wide on Jackson, only to see the Rockets rearguard staying stride for stride with Seattle’s leading scorer.
  • A solid start for goaltender Mark Guggenberger. Gugg’s best save came in overtime off of Rai, when the speedy forward splits the defence and essentially goes in on a breakaway. The save results in the play going the other way and the puck ending up in the back of the T-Birds net.
  • The win extends the Rockets winning streak to six games.
  • The Rockets out-score the opposition 13-6 in the three weekend wins.
  • What comes around, goes around. Prior to last night's win, the Rockets suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to the T-Birds at ShoWare Center. The date was January 31/09. Who was the losing goaltender on that night? Mark Guggenberger. Who was the winning goalie? Calvin Pickard. Sunday the roles were reversed.
  • The win pushes the Rockets into 6th place in the Western Conference. While both the Rockets and Blazers now have the same number of points, the Rockets have more wins. The Blazers are now 7th while Chilliwack is 8th.
  • The Rockets have scored a shorthanded goal in three consecutive games.
  • January was an interesting month. A win followed by a 7 game winless streak followed by a 6 game winning streak.
  • The Rockets play 12 games in February, 8 of which are on the road.
  • It's February 1st, which means one thing. It's Tyler Myers birthday.

4 comments:

fan said...

congrats Tyson for being named player of the week. well done

g.k said...

Hey Regan - Have you heard how Lucas is coming along with that flu bug he picked-up on the weekend? Hope it's not too serious & he's back real soon.

Regan Bartel said...

I would think Wednesday. The team did not allow him to travel to make sure he stayed away from infecting the team. Smart move by the medical staff.

jaz301 said...

Speaking of Lucas, do you know how Evan is doing and if he is planing on playing at all this season? Also Happy B-day to Tyler Myers.