BLAZERS PUSH BUT FALL SHORT IN KELOWNA
A late surge by the Blazers wasn’t enough in a 4-3 loss to the Kelowna Rockets in the Blazers first WHL preseason game on Friday night.
The Blazers were down early as Tyson Baillie hammered home a shot 1:51 into the first period for a 1-0 Rockets lead. Ryan Donaldson put the Rockets up 2-0 midway through the period getting a stick on a pass from Baillie and poking it by goaltender Taran Kozun for a 2-0 lead. Jordan Thomson responded 20 seconds later as he rushed the puck and crossed the blueline and blasted a puck past goaltender Jake Morrisey to make it 2-1. The Rockets outshot the Blazers 12-5 in the period.
In the second period, the Blazers fought their way back. Mitch Lipon was hauled down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. He made a terrific move on goaltender Jordon Cooke, who took over midway through the second period in goal for the Rockets, and scored to make it a 2-2 tie. The Rockets responded with two goals in the final six minutes of the second period as Henrik Nyberg and Cole Linakar made it a 4-2 lead for the Rockets going into the third period.
The Blazers had a solid third period and pushed hard in the final few minutes. After dominating in the offensive zone, Chase Souto found an open Aspen Sterzer in front of the Rockets net who put home a backhand to make it 4-3 with 1:40 remaining in the game. The Blazers pulled goaltender Taran Kozun in the dying minutes but couldn’t come back as they fell 4-3 to the Rockets.
Taran Kozun went the distance making 31 saves while Jake Morrisey and Jordon Cooke combined for 14 saves in the win. The Blazers were 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Rockets were 1-for-4.
The Blazers will practice tomorrow morning before playing their first home WHL preseason game against the Vancouver Giants on Sunday, September 1st at 6:00pm.
