RECAP: Golder and Cristall net hat tricks in Rockets 7-4 win over Spokane
The Kelowna Rockets recorded their fourth straight win on home ice at Propsera Place, downing the Spokane Chiefs 7-4 on Wednesday night.
Playing with just four defencemen in the lineup, Rockets forwards Carson Golder and Andrew Cristall exploded for three goals each, recording their second hat tricks of the season. The Rockets penalty kill was perfect on the night, shutting down all six attempts that Spokane had.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favours with the penalties we took,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in his postgame interview. “Especially being a short bench on the backend, we had to put Adam Kydd and Carson Golder out there on defence.”
“I thought we started well. They’re (Spokane) a hungry, young team and they made things interesting, I didn’t feel safe at any point throughout the game with any lead that we had built up.”
GAME SUMMARY
From the top of the right faceoff circle while on the power play, Gabriel Szturc dished a pass to Carson Golder (26) in the slot to put the Rockets on the board 2:46 into the game. Five minutes later Mac Gross (9) beat Rockets starter Jari Kykkanen to tie the game.
Andrew Cristall (31) made a great individual effort working his way down toward the right side of the net to tuck the puck around Dawson Cowan and into the net to restore the Rockets lead. Cristall (32) added his second of the night in the final seconds of the second period.
Chase Bertholet (24) pulled Spokane within one while short-handed early in the third, however seconds later Golder (27) capitalized on the man advantage. Gabriel Szturc was hauled down, with the referee’s arm in the air, the Rockets captain passed the puck back to a charging Golder (28) to complete his second hat trick of the season. Dylan Wightman (11) added another Rocket goal 42 seconds later. Kooper Gizowski (10) and Carter Streek (14) made things interesting, pulling Spokane back within reach. Cristall (33) fought off a defender to pot an empty net goal to complete his second hat trick of the season.
ADDITIONAL STATS
- Spokane outshot Kelowna 45 to 33
- Jari Kykkanen made his second straight start,stopping 41 of the 45 shots fired on him
- Carson Golder was the game’s first star, Andrew Cristall was the second and Elias Carmichael was the third star
- Kelowna was 2/4 on the power play, while the Chiefs were 0/6 on the man advantage
- The Rockets record is now 23-31-3-0
UP NEXT
The Rockets will hit the road to face the BC Division leading Kamloops Blazers on Friday night at the Sandman Centre, the two will then meet up again on Saturday night at Prospera Place.
Single-game tickets for all Rockets home games are on sale at Select Your Tickets. Tickets can be purchased online through www.selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office, or by phone at 250-762-5050.
