iSight Optometry Recap: Rockets open East Division trip with 5-4 win over Pats

The Kelowna Rockets opened their East Division road trip with a 5-4 win over the Regina Pats on Saturday night.

There were no travel legs as captain Gabriel Szturc opened the scoring 1:00 into the game, he would pick up third-star honours after recording a goal and an assist.

Hiroki Gojsic and Tij Iginla both posted two-goal nights, with Iginla earning the second star of the game after recording the game-winner.

Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen made 28 saves on 32 shots, picking up his eleventh win of the campaign.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS | BOXSCORE

GAME SUMMARY

Gabriel Szturc (13) quickly put the Rockets on the board 60 seconds into the game, standing in front of the Pats net he chipped the puck up and over goaltender Ewan Huet’s shoulder after Andrew Cristall fed the puck from the left corner. While shorthanded the Pats took off on a three-on-one, Zane Rowan‘s rebound off of Jari Kykkanen’s pad found its way onto Parker Berge’s (8) stick where he tied the game with 20 seconds left in the period.

Ethan Neuten’s fed the puck along the point to a streaking Hiroki Gojsic (5) entering the zone, who unleashed a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to restore the Rockets lead 1:34 into the second period. Just over eleven minutes later Tij Iginla’s (21) sharp-angled shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle squeaked past Huet. Borya Valis (9) clawed the Pats back within one before the end of the period with a slap shot from along the left side that dribbled through Jari Kykkanen’s five-hole and into the Rockets net.

Gojsic (6) pounced on Dylan Wightman’s rebound 2:58 into the final frame. Twenty-three seconds later Iginla (22) deflected Caden Price’s shot into the net. Five minutes later Berge (9), (10) scored a power-play goal befoe completing the hat trick in the final seconds of the game to make it a one-goal affair.