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| www.shootthebreeze.ca (Marissa Baecker photo) |
Tonight’s Preview: Welcome to the
final week of the 2016-2017 regular season. The Kelowna Rockets play their
second to last regular season home game tonight against the visiting Everett
Silvertips. This is the 4th and final meeting of the season between
the two teams. The Rockets are 2-1-0-0 in the three games with all three being
decided by a single goal. Two of the three games have needed more than
regulation time, with the Rockets winning 4-3 in overtime on October 19th
and winning in a shootout on March 3rd with a 3-2 victory. The
Rockets are 5-0-2-0 in their last 7 regular season games at Prospera Place
against the Tips and 9-3-3-0 in the last 15 meetings between the two teams.
Reid Gardiner and Lucas Johansen each have 2 goals against the Tips in the three
games. The Rockets are coming off a 4-3 overtime win against the Victoria
Royals Saturday night. Dillon Dube scored the game winner and collected four
points (2+2=4) in the teams 7th straight victory. The team has 16
wins in the last 19 games (16-2-1-0) while earning a point in 14 of their last
15 games (13-1-1-0). Following tonight’s game the Rockets close out the regular
season this weekend with a home and home series with the Vancouver Giants.
Overall, the Rockets have won 7 straight and have scored 73 goals in their last
15 games.
Too Hot to Handle: Kyle Topping has an 8
game point streak (3+5=8). Cal Foote has a four game point streak (1+6=7).
Calvin Thurkauf has points in 6 of his last 7 games (3+8=11). Dillon Dube has a
four game point streak (6+5=11).
Milestones: Rodney Southam’s next
point will be the 100th of his WHL career….Reid Gardiner played in his 285th career game last Tuesday…Devante
Stephens played in his 200th game Saturday night. …Gordie Ballhorn
played in his 100th game Saturday vs. Victoria.
Streak’n: Reid Gardiner enters
tonight’s game riding a 15 game point streak. Gardiner has 10+12=22 over that
stretch. Kole Lind had a 13 game point streak earlier this season. The 21
year-old Gardiner also has goals in 7 of his last 9 games. Rodney Southam has
points in 9 of his last 12 games with 7+8=15 over that stretch. Dillon Dube has points in 10 of his last 11
games (11+13=24). Dube also has goals in 8 of his last 10 games. Overall, Dube
has11 goals in his last 10 games…Carsen Twarynski has 6 goals in his last 10
games.
That’s a fact Jack: This 7 game winning
streak is the longest since the team won 10 straight games in 2014-2015….Lucas Johansen plays in his 200th
career game tonight…The last time the Rockets came into the playoffs this hot
was in 2012-2013 when the team was riding a 6 game winning streak…. …Michael
Herringer was named the WHL Goalie of the Week March 6th by posting
a record of 3-0-0-0 with a goals against average of 1.10…Lucas Johansen signed
an entry level deal with the Washington Capitals last Thursday. Johansen was a
1st round pick of the Caps this summer…The Rockets have 91 points
this season, with 6 available points over the final 3 regular season games. The
most points the team can earn this season is 97, which puts them three shy of
the 100 point barrier the team has reached in each of the last four seasons…The Rockets have played 35 road games
this season, with one more stop in Vancouver…The Rockets have now won 20 or more road games in five consecutive
seasons. The last time they failed to hit 20 wins was in 2011-2012 when they
won 15 games away from Prospera Place…The 56 shots the Rockets put up against
the Vancouver Giants February 10th were a season high….The 15 shots
the team surrendered February 22nd against the Edmonton Oil Kings was a season
low…The Rockets have generated 30 or more shots in 27 of their last 30 games…The
Rockets have surrendered 5 or more goals 13 times this season. The teams’
record, not surprisingly, is 1-11-2-0.
Broadcasters Bits: The Rockets were 15
points out of first place in the BC Division at one point. Now they are just
two points off the pace with a game in hand on Prince George….The Rockets are
62-1-4-0 when leading after 40 minutes in the last two seasons….The Kelowna Rockets
lost 10 of their first 21 regular season games. Since then, the team has 11
losses in the last 48 games… In the Rockets last 12 losses (regulation or
overtime loss) the opposition has opened the scoring…The Rockets are 18-6-2-0
since the trade deadline The Rockets
compiled a record of 10-2-1-0 in 13 games in 26 days in February…The Rockets
were 8-3-2-0 in December...The Rockets were 6-4-0-0 in 10 games in November
after going 8-4-0-0 in 12 games in October…The Rockets are the only team in the
WHL that has failed to surrender a shorthanded goal against this season…The
Rockets are 19-12-0-0 against BC based teams this season …The Rockets are
11-3-3-0 against U.S Division teams this season.
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
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