Rockets/Giants Preview

www.shootthebreeze.ca (Marissa Baecker photo)

Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets close out the home portion of their schedule tonight against the visiting Vancouver Giants. This is the 7^th of 8 meeting between these two teams. The Rockets are 5-1-0-0 in the first six games, having out-scored the Giants 19-1 in the last three meetings. Overall, the Rockets have out-scored the G-Men 34-13. The Rockets have won 23 consecutive home games over the Giants. The Rockets are coming off a 4-1 loss Wednesday night to the Everett Silvertips. Dillon Dube scored the lone goal, the teams’ first loss in 8 games. In the big picture, the team has 16 wins in the last 20 games (16-3-1-0) while earning a point in 14 of their last 16 games (13-2-1-0). Following tonight’s game the Rockets close out the regular season against the Giants tomorrow night in Langley. The Rockets have scored 74 goals in their last 16 games (4.6 goals per game).  

Too Hot to Handle: Kyle Topping had his 8 game point streak snapped Wednesday night. Topping had 3+5=8 over that period. Cal Foote has points in four of his last five games (1+6=7). Calvin Thurkauf has points in 6 of his last 8 games (3+8=11). Dillon Dube has a 5 game point streak (7+5=12).

Milestones: Lucas Johansen played in his 200^th career game Wednesday night…Rodney Southam’s next point will be the 100^th of his WHL career…Devante Stephens played in his 200^th game last Saturday night. …Gordie Ballhorn played in his 100^th game Saturday vs. Victoria.

Streak’n: The Rockets have scored more goals (271) than they did all of last season (269). The team has allowed 204 goals against, which is 14 less than a season ago with two games remaining...Reid Gardiner had his 15 game point streak snapped Wednesday night. Gardiner had 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 10 games. Rodney Southam has points in 9 of his last 13 games with 7+8=15 over that stretch.  Dillon Dube has points in 11 of his last 12 games (12+13=25). Dube also has goals in 9 of his last 11 games. Dube has12 goals in his last 11 games.

That’s a fact Jack: The Rockets are 26-4-0-0 in their last 30 regular season meetings against the Giants…The Rockets are 11 for 30 on the power play (36.7%) against the Giants this season….The Rockets have killed off 26 of 30 chances while shorthanded against the G-Men this season…Calvin Thurkauf has 3+7=10 in 6 games against Vancouver this season. Cal Foote and Kole Lind both have 3+5=8 in the six games…James Hilsendager has a team leading +8 against the Giants…The Rockets 7 game winning streak was the longest since the team won 10 straight games in 2014-2015…Michael Herringer was named the WHL Goalie of the Week March 6^th 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. Johansen was a 1^st round pick of the Caps this summer…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 10^th 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 31 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: Tomas Soustal is missing his 7^th straight game tonight after being hurt March 1^st against Prince George. The Rockets are 11-2-0-0 in 13 games when Soustal has been injured this season….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 12 losses in the last 49 games… In the Rockets last 13 losses (regulation or overtime loss) the opposition has opened the scoring…The Rockets are 18-7-2-0 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 were 11-4-3-0 against U.S Division teams this season.

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150