iSight Optometry Recap: Andrew Cristall’s hat trick pushes Rockets past Hitmen

iSight Optometry Recap: Andrew Cristall’s hat trick pushes Rockets past Hitmen

The Kelowna Rockets extended their win streak on home ice at Prospera Place to five games with a 7-6 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday night.

After the Rockets scored the opening goal and went into the intermission tied at one, they fell behind 3-1 early into the second period. During the middle frame, Kelowna battled back to hold the lead 5-4 going into the final period.

“I thought our game five-on-five was pretty good,” said head coach Kris Mallette in his Taco Delhi postgame interview. “I thought our response to the back-and-forth side of things was good, at the end of the day we’re the ones who had more [goals].”

Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall extended his career-high point streak to sixteen games after posting an assist and three goals, including the game-winner. Over that span, Cristall has recorded 30 points (11G, 20A).

“It’s not how you draw it up for sure, but you kind of adjust to the game,” said Cristall in his Taco Delhi postgame interview. “The pucks were going in, which was nice and it was definitely a little bit of fun out there.”

HIGHLIGHTS | BOXSCORE | POSTGAME MALLETTE | POSTGAME CRISTALL

GAME SUMMARY

After being shut down on a five-on-three man advantage, Andrew Cristall (19) ripped a shot past Ethan Buenaventura from the along the goal line with 11 seconds left on the second power play. Sean Tschigerl (17) tied things up before the end of the period with a power-play goal.

Tyson Galloway (2) and Chase Valliant (4) scored back-to-back power-play goals 3:22 apart to give the Hitmen a two-goal lead five and a half minutes into the second period. Cristall’s (20) shot popped up and over Buenaventura into the net thirty-eight seconds after the Hitmen’s third goal. Two minutes later Tij Iginla found Michael Cicek (6) at the Hitmen’s backdoor to push Kelowna ahead again. Just past the midway point of the period, Tij Iginla set up Hiroki Gojsic (8) in the slot to restore the Rockets lead. Aleksey Chichkin (1) and Gabriel Szturc (17) traded goals late in the period to give the Rockets a 5-4 lead going into the third period.

Ethan Moore (6) struck 1:30 into the third period to tie the game once again. While on the power play, Szturc (18) stepped up again to push Kelowna ahead at 3:15. At the midway of the frame Oliver Tulk (21) tied the game once again. Just under two minutes later Cristall (21) completed the hat trick to seal the Rockets win.