Rockets vs. Tips preview

Chris Mast Photo

Game Day Preview: The Kelowna Rockets face the Everett Silvertips tonight at Prospera Place. These two teams met back on January 18^th, with the Rockets earning a 2-0 win. In the other two meetings, the Tips won by scores of 4-2 (Jan 9, 2019) and 2-1 (November 24, 2018). The most impressive statistic in the seasonal series is the Rockets penalty killing unit, which are 11 for 12 in the three games. Impressive considering the Tips have scored the third most power play goals in the WHL. The Rockets are coming off a 4-1 road win in Kamloops last Saturday night when Lassi Thomson scored twice in the teams’ 23^rd victory. Tomorrow night the team hosts Vancouver before traveling to Victoria to face the Royals Monday afternoon (2 pm) and Tuesday before concluding the three game road trip in Spokane a week from tonight.  

Overall, the Rockets are 7-9-2-1 in 19 games since the Christmas break. The Rockets are 19-16-4-1 in 40 games under head coach Adam Foote. 

Who’s Hot:.Kyle Topping has 3+11=14 in his last 10 games…Leif Mattson has 1+5=6 in three games….Alex Swetlikoff has 2+3=5 in his last three games….Nolan Foote has 7+3=10 in his last 10 games….Lassi Thomson has 6+2=8 in his last 11 games …The Rockets have points in 14 of their last 19 home games (11-5-3-0)….The Rockets have won 3 of their last 4, having out-scored the opposition 14-10.

Broadcasters Notebook: Five Kelowna Rockets prospects are participating in the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer February 15^th to March 3rd. Among those participating is 15 year-old Trevor Wong, a first round bantam pick in 2018….Defenceman Shael Higson will play in his 300^th career game Monday in Victoria… The Rockets have played in seven straight one goal games at home….The Rockets have 14 games left in the regular season. Of those 14, 10 are against teams in the BC Division…The team will play three games in three nights March 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd…The team has been out-shot in 13 of the last 18 games…The Rockets are 5-9-1-0 in 15 games against a US Division team this season. Three of the five wins have come against Tri City with a single victory over Everett and Seattle…The team plays 5 more games against US Division rivals with two games against Spokane and Portland and a single against Everett this evening .…The Rockets have played 18-one goal games at home this season. Last year they played 15-one goal games at Prospera Place…The team has played in nine-one goal games on the road…The Rockets are 10-12-2-1 against BC Division teams this season…Five members of the Kelowna Rockets have made NHL Central Scouting’s latest rankings. Lassi Thomson is rated 14^th, Nolan Foote is ranked 26^th and Kaedan Korczak is 31^st. Kyle Topping is 195th while Alex Swetlikoff is 217^th, Among goalies, Roman Basran is 11^th among North American netminders…..Adam Foote was officially named the new head coach of the Kelowna Rockets on October 23, 2018 replacing Jason Smith.,,The Rockets are 9-11-1-0 when playing the second game of back-to-backs….The team acquired 20 year-old Shael Higson from the Brandon Wheat Kings for 20 year-old Braydyn Chizen and a 5^th round bantam pick. The team then claimed 20 year-old defenceman Matt Barberis off waivers from the Vancouver Giants. To make room for Barberis, the team released overage forward Lane Zablocki, who is now with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers.

Season Highs/Lows:

Most goals scored: 8 @ Victoria October 19/18 (8-2 W)

Most goals allowed: 9 vs. Seattle October 10^th, 2018 (9-6 L)

Most shots on net: 45 @ Seattle October 6th, 2018 (4-1 L).

Fewest shots on net: 13 @ Edmonton November 17, 2018 (3-1 L)

Most shots allowed: 50 @ Portland November 10, 2018 (3-0 L)

Fewest shots allowed: 16 vs. Victoria December 7, 2018 (2-0 win)

Last time shut out at home: October 3rd, 2018 vs. Vancouver (5-0 L)  

Last time shut out on road: February 1, 2019 @ Spokane (4-0 L)

Last shutout at home: December 7, 2018 vs. Victoria (2-0 W - Roman Basran 16 saves)

Last shutout on the road: January 18, 2019 @ Everett (2-0 W – James Porter 40 saves)

Most power play goals allowed: 4 vs. Seattle October 10^th, 2018 (9-6 L). T-Birds were 4/5 on power play.

Most power play goals scored: 4 @ Victoria October 19, 2018 (8-2 W)

Overtime Games (7): vs. Kamloops (2-1 W) February 2, 2019, vs. Seattle (3-2 Loss) January 30, 2019, @ Kamloops (3-2 Loss) December 28, 2018, vs. Saskatoon (5-4 Loss) December 1, 2018, @ Tri City Nov 30, 2018 (3-2 win), @ PG (4-3 Loss) November 14, 2018, vs. PG (4-3 win) October 27, 2018.