Rockets/Winterhawks - Part 2

Tonight’s Preview: It is the back end of a pair of games in Portland between the two teams.  Thursday night the Rockets earning a 5-0 win. Jackson Whistle made 29 saves while Rourke Chartier scored a pair of goals. Justin Kirkland (1+2=3) and Austin Glover (0+3=3) had multiple point games. The Rockets were 1 for 6 on the power play and a perfect 6 for 6 on the penalty kill. Following tonight’s game, the seasonal series ends with back-to-back games in Kelowna on November 21^st and 22^nd. Last season, the Rockets won both games in Portland by scores of 9-3 and 7-2. In Kelowna, the Rockets skated to 6-2 and 6-3 wins. Following this game, the Rockets are in Vancouver on Sunday before hosting the Victoria Royals on November 5^th. The Rockets are in a portion of their schedule where they are playing 8 of 11 games on the road.  

By the numbers: Nick Merkley has 11 points 1+10=11 in his last seven games…Madison Bowey has 8 points (4+4=8) in his last seven games…Tyson Baillie snapped a five game goalless streak Thursday night with his 11^th of the season….Madison Bowey is 3 goals shy of 50 for their career…Rourke Chartier is 2 goals shy of 50 for his career…..Riley Stadel is 4 penalty minutes shy of 100 for his career…Austin Glover leads the team with a +14 rating…Justin Kirkland is 7 games shy of 100 for his career…Tyrell Goulbourne is 10 penalty minutes shy of 400….Jackson Whistle has 6 career shutouts and has three in his last seven starts.       

Bowey/Baillie represents WHL: Captain Madison Bowey and 19 year-old forward Tyson Baillie will represent the Western Hockey League in the Subway Super Series in November. Games against the Russian Selects will take place in Saskatoon November 10^th and in Brandon November 11^th.

This and That: The Rockets were 10-1-0-0 in October. Last season they were 7-2-0-1 in 10 games in October….Jackson Whistle has the most wins in the WHL with 12…Nick Merkley leads the WHL with 12 power play assists… The Kelowna Rockets are rated as the top team in this week’s CHL Top 10 junior rankings. This is the fourth consecutive time they have been rated #1….Jackson Whistle is the CHL Goaltender of the Week. The 19 year-old earned back-to-back victories last week over Tri City and Brandon while posting a goals against average of 0.50. Whistle earned a shutout over that period with a 4-0 win over the Tri City Americans….Assistant Coach Kris Mallette earned his first WHL victory as a coach Thursday night in a 5-0 win over the Portland Winterhawks… The Rockets have added 18 year-old goaltender Michael Herringer to the roster. Herringer was listed by the Rockets a few weeks ago after being released by the Saskatoon Blades. The Rockets are an incredible 123-28-3-5 in their last 159 regular season games dating back to the start of the 2012-2013 season….The Rockets have scored seven shorthanded goals this season. Last season the team managed 13 shorthanded goals and had the best penalty killing unit in the WHL…Colton Heffley played in his 250^th career WHL game October 7^th against the Swift Current Broncos…. The Rockets have scored a power play goal in 11 of 14 games this season…The opposition has opened the scoring in eight of the fourteen games….The Rockets have out-shot the opposition in 11 of the 14 games this season…Austin Glover has points in six of his last eight games. Glover has 4+6=10 over that stretch. Glover has points in 9 of the 13 games he has played in this season…Nick Merkley has been held pointless only twice this season....Whistle’s 29 save shutout win was the first for a Rockets goalie on the road since February 25, 2011 when Adam Brown made 27 saves in a 1-0 victory in Red Deer. The shutout also snapped a streak of 198 consecutive home games for the Winterhawks with at least one goal…In case you are wondering, the Rockets have not been shutout in 91 consecutive games. The last time the Rockets were held without a goal was March 3,2013 in a 3-0 loss in Kamloops.