Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Game Notes vs. Tips

Tonight’s Preview: This is the final week of the WHL regular season. The Kelowna Rockets play the third and final game of a three game home stand 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, having out-scored the Tips 10-9 in the first three games. All three games were decided by a single goal. The Rockets enter tonight’s game having won three of their last five games but have lost two in a row. The Rockets have just three games left in the regular season with two of the three at Prospera Place. The Rockets have points in 20 of their last 27 road games (14-7-1-5). Following tonight’s game the Rockets close out the regular season with a home and home series against the Vancouver Giants.

Power Play Struggles: The Rockets have not scored a power play goal in five straight home games. They are 0 for 16 over that stretch. The Rockets have failed to score a power play goal at home in eight of their last ten games. Over that stretch the power play is 4 for 38, or 11 percent.

Who’s Hot: The Rockets have a power play goal in ten of their last thirteen road games (16 for 46 or 35%)...Brett Bulmer has ten goals in his last ten games…Bulmer has eight more points (57) than the 49 he collected all of last season…Bulmer led the team with 12 points in February (9+3=12)…Chikie has played 198 career games. Chikie will hit the 200 games played milestone against Vancouver on Friday…Zach Franko has five points (2+3=5) in his last five games…Myles Bell has six points (2+4=6) in his last five games.

This and That: Zach Franko is trying to become the first player since Justin Keller (2004-2005,2005-2006) to play in all 72 regular season games in back-to-back seasons. Franko has played in 141 consecutive games…The Rockets are looking for their 30th win of the season. Since moving to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-96 campaign, the Rockets have registered 30+ wins 13 times over 16 seasons….The Rockets are a combined 12-9-1-1 in 23 games against the four teams that trail them in the Western Conference standings. Those teams include Victoria, Everett, Seattle and Prince George…When Brett Bulmer scores the Rockets are 13-3-1-3. In other words, the team has lost only three times in regulation when Bulmer lights the lamp…Bulmer has nine (9) multiple goal games this season. Last year he had just three…The Rockets have three more losses than the 29 suffered last season….The Rockets have allowed 31 more goals than the 201 they gave up all of last season…Since the Christmas break the Rockets are 10-5-1-2 in 18 road games….Since the Christmas break the Rockets are 5-10-0-1 in 16 home games…In thirteen of the last 22 games, the Rockets have been involved in a one goal game…The Rockets have one (1) road game left and two (2) on home ice … Last season the Rockets played in six shootout games. This season the Rockets have been involved in a league high fourteen games that required a shootout. The Rockets are 8 and 6 in those fourteen shootout situations… The Rockets have three 20+ goal scorers this season. Colton Sissons (26) and Brett Bulmer (32) are joined by Carter Rigby (20). Last season the team had five 20+ goal scorers…Fourteen of Colton Sissons 26 goals have been scored on the road this season…Brett Lyon has 2+3=5 in twenty-two games with the Rockets since being acquired from Moose Jaw….Defenceman Myles Bell has 41 points this season. Twenty-seven of those points have been recorded on the road…In thirteen of their last twenty wins, the Rockets have given up two or less goals per game…The Rockets are 22-17-2-6 with Brett Bulmer in the line-up….Tyrell Goulbourne leads the team with 16 fighting majors. Mitchell Chapman has eleven….The Rockets have been involved in 35-one goal games this season. The Rockets are 17-9-3-6 in those thirty-five games….Birthdays in March. Zach Franko turned 19 on March 9th while Cole Martin turns 18 tomorrow….Only Zach Franko has played in all 69 regular season games this season…The Rockets have been shut out three times this season. Calgary (2-0), Kootenay (4-0) and Seattle (2-0) have shut out the Rockets on home ice.

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