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| Pavel Novak |
- Did the Kelowna Rockets deserve to win last night against the Victoria Royals? Did they deserve to lose to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds Saturday night? Hockey and sports in general are not always fair. Sometimes you play well and lose. You see it all the time. Play poorly or subpar and still earn two points. Out-shot 18-3 in the third period in last night's 5-4 win, Steel Quiring's determined effort tied the score before Pavel Novak, who is unquestionably the teams most dangerous player, fired home the game winner snapping a season high 4 game winless streak. It was Novak's final game with his junior team before playing for the Czech Republic at the world junior hockey championships. It was Novak's 13th goal of the season. In Novak's rookie campaign, where he led the team in scoring with 25 goals and 58 points in 55 games, the point producing dynamo had 13 goals at the Christmas break. You can't make this stuff up.
- With someone so proficient in scoring - it was surprisingly - Novak's first game winner of the season. He had 5 game winners in his rookie campaign.
- The Rockets snapped a four game winless streak. It likely felt longer as losses weigh heavily on a team. Can you imagine being winless in 16 games? Just ask the Medicine Hat Tigers. They went through before beating Red Deer in a shootout on the weekend.
- The Rockets enjoyed the lead for the majority of the game. Even when Victoria either tied it or finally grabbed it, the home team got it back in a hurry. Evan Patrician tied the score at 1 before Noah Dorey scored :39 seconds later to make it 2-1. The Royals took a 4-3 lead in the third period before Steel Quiring tied the score :54 later. I don't know if the word 'bump up shift' is still used in todays game? It refers to the next shift after allowing a goal being a pivotal one. Getting the goal back after being scored upon on the very next shift is an admirable quality. It was Quiring's first goal in 10 games.
- I thought both goalies were good despite 9 goals being surrendered. No less than two were tipped with one going off Royals forward Evan Patrician and into the back of the net. At the other end, Victoria back stopper Campbell Arnold was sharp early with several big stops when the Rockets were awarded three consecutive power plays. The ugly goal came when Noah Dorey's wrist shot hit Wyatt Wilson in the leg, ricocheted off Arnold and found the back of the net. No shot was a bad shot.
- Dorey was a health scratch Saturday against Seattle. He had his first two goal game of his career. Of the three goals he's scored this season, two have been on the power play. The last Rockets d-man to score three goals in a game was Tyson Barrie. Yep, it doesn't happen often. Barrie found the back of the net three times in 2010.
- The Rockets have been to overtime 7 times this season. The WHL high is held by Victoria and Portland, who have played extra time - 8 times. The Royals went into overtime for the 6th time in their last 8 games and for the 8th time in its last 12 contests.
- It was the sixth time the Rockets have scored 5 or more goals. They are 5-0-0-1 in those games.
- The Royals set a new high with 47 shots on net. It was the second highest total of shots allowed by the Rockets this season. They allowed 48 last Wednesday against Everett in a 5-3 loss.
- It was a rare Tuesday game. It is the only Tuesday home game this season.
- For what it's worth, it was the teams 5th game in 8 nights. Pass me a lozenge.
- Are you ready for the Teddy Bear Toss game this Saturday against Kamloops? It is the 8th year the team has held the event. The first goal scorer in Kelowna Rockets franchise history was Ryan Olsen back in 2013. Here are a list of the Teddy Bear Toss goal scorers over the years:
2014: Dillon Dube
2015: Dillon Dube
2016: Nick Merkley
2017: Conner Bruggen-Cate
2018: Mark Liwiski
2019: Nolan Foote
2020: No game
2021: ?
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