Brown's ludicrous left pad save the difference

• Adam Brown must have been told by someone when he was a young kid to never give up. It was clearly evident Friday night that the Kelowna Rockets goaltender took it to heart in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Everett Silvertips. Tips captain Landon Ferraro appeared to have Brown at his mercy in the shootout with the puck on his forehand and the upper half of the net wide open. But Brown, miraculously, kicked out his left pad in desperation, sending the puck out of harms way. It was that save and Tyson Barrie's game winning shootout goal that helped the Rockets snap a three game home ice losing streak.
• Brown was the best player on the ice, but Tips goaltender Kent Simpson wasn't bad either. Simpson made a nice save off of Rockets defenceman MacKenzie Johnston in overtime with a nice glove hand grab. When Simpson wasn't making a nice save, he had help from his friends, as forward Spencer Main hit the goal post in overtime with Simpson down and out and a teammate doing his best at playing the role of goaltender. The Tips could have complained about having no puck luck Friday night, but Main would also have a case.
  
• How about having 17 year-old Rockets defenceman MacKenzie Johnston on the ice in overtime? Coach Huska says Johnston deserved the chance after outperforming several of his teammates during regulation time. That has to give the second year d-man a boost of confidence. Hopefully he can build on that.
  
• Mitchell Callahan had another strong game. He is the most consistent player on the Rockets roster right now and is flourishing with line mates Shane McColgan and Zach Franko. Callahan scored twice while Franko had two assists.
  
• The win didn't come easy. Despite scoring two power play goals, the Rockets failed to respond on two 5 on 3's. In fact, the Tips came back from a 3-1 third period deficit to earn a single point.
• The best Tip? I liked how European d-man Rasmus Rissanen got involved in a first period fight with Mitchell Callahan after a teammate was hit hard by the hard charging Callahan. I thought Scott McDonald played a determined game and Josh Birkholz showed he was a threat to score. I often found that Birkholz was 'pass happy' and wanted to distribute the puck rather than just shoot it, but he got better as the game wore on.
  
• The Rockets scratched 20 year-old Geordie Wudrick. You had to know something had to give with the skilled forward scoring just once in his first ten games.
• Team Canada head scout Kevin Pendergast took in the game and was seen watching Tyson Barrie, Kent Simpson and Ryan Murray closely. If you missed the interview I had with him in the second intermission, I will share his comments on this blog later this weekend. Pendergast is in Chillwack Saturday night to see Bruins forward Ryan Howse perform.
  
• Former Rockets' d-man Darren Deschamps was at Friday's game. Deschamps is spending a few days in Kelowna with Rockets assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert as his tour guide.