Game Day: Rockets host B.C. Division best Giants
Rockets vs. Giants
Saturday February 16th, 2019
Game Time – 7:05 pm
Game Day Preview: The Kelowna Rockets face the Vancouver Giants for the 6th time this season. The Rockets are 1-4-0-0 in the opening five games, having been out-scored 15-7. Leif Mattson has 0+6=6 in the five games while Kyle Topping has 3+1=4 in the seasonal series. Nolan Foote has two goals in four games against the G-Men. Roman Basran has played in all five games, posting a goals against average of 3.01. The Rockets power play is just 1 for 17 (5.9%) in the five games. The series comes to an end with three more games after tonight, on March 1st, March 15th and March 16th. The Rockets are coming off a 3-1 loss last night to the Everett Silvertips. Kyle Topping scored his 20th goal in the loss. Roman Basran made 28 saves in the setback. Following tonight’s game the Rockets are in Victoria Monday (2 pm) and Tuesday (7 pm). The team then travels to Spokane this Friday to wrap up a three game road trip before welcoming the Kamloops Blazers a week from tonight. Overall, the Rockets are 7-10-2-1 in 20 games since the Christmas break. The Rockets are 19-17-4-1 in 41 games under head coach Adam Foote.
Who’s Hot:.Kyle Topping has 4+11=15 in his last 11 games…Leif Mattson has 1+6=7 in four games….Alex Swetlikoff has 2+4=6 in his last four games….Nolan Foote has 7+3=10 in his last 11 games….Lassi Thomson has 6+2=8 in his last 12 games …The Rockets have points in 14 of their last 20 home games (11-6-3-0)….The Rockets have won 3 of their last 5 games overall, having out-scored the opposition 15-13.
Broadcasters Notebook: Five Kelowna Rockets prospects are participating in the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. February 15th 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 300th career game Monday in Victoria….The Rockets have 13 games left in the regular season. Of those 13, 9 are against teams in the BC Division…The team will play three games in three nights March 1st, 2nd and 3rd…The team has been out-shot in 13 of the last 19 games…The Rockets are 5-10-1-0 in 16 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 4 more games against US Division rivals with two games against Spokane and Portland.…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 14th, Nolan Foote is ranked 26th and Kaedan Korczak is 31st. Kyle Topping is 195th while Alex Swetlikoff is 217th, Among goalies, Roman Basran is 11th 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 5th 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 10th, 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 10th, 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.
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
