Cardinal Sport Weekend Preview: Rockets Continue U.S. Road Trip vs Tri-City & Spokane

ROCKETS HEADLINES:

The Kelowna Rockets (11–7–3–1) roll into the weekend with two more games against U.S. Division weekend, beginning Friday night against the Tri-City Americans (10–9–2–0) before a Saturday rematch with the Spokane Chiefs (12–11–0–0). Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm PST in Kennewick on Friday and 6:05 pm PST Saturday in Spokane.

Kelowna enters the weekend as one of the WHL’s hottest teams, riding a two-game winning streak and earning points in eight of their last ten games (6–2–2–0). The Rockets offense continues to surge, outscoring opponents 8–2 over their last two contests while operating at a 20% powerplay and an 83.3% penalty kill.

This marks the second meeting of the season with Tri-City and the fourth matchup with Spokane with Kelowna winning each of the last two by a combined 13–2 margin.

TRI-CITY AMERICANS

Tri-City enters Friday’s matchup on a two-game win streak of their own, including a tight 4–3 victory over Vancouver. The Americans sit at 10–9–2–0 and are led offensively by Savin Virk (8G, 10A) Jake Gudelj (16 assists) and Connor Dale (15 points).

The Americans biggest challenge this season has been goal differential (60 GF, 70 GA) and a penalty kill operating at 70.77%, one of the lowest marks in the WHL.

Tri-City won the first meeting of the season 3–1 on October 19th, but the Rockets now bring in one of the strongest road records in the Western Conference at 7–3–1–0.

SPOKANE CHIEFS

Saturday marks the fourth matchup between the Rockets and Chiefs this season. Spokane won the opening meeting back in September, but Kelowna has controlled the series since winning 7–1 on November 15 and 6–1 this past Wednesday in Spokane.

The Chiefs remain a young but explosive transition team led by Mathis Preston (8G, 9A) and Chase Harrington (7G, 9A) both of which were at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge earlier in the week when the Rockets won 6-1. Defenseman Rhett Sather has also taken a leap this year as he lead Chiefs defenseman with 15 points.

Spokane’s major weakness continues to be its power play, which now sits at 7.95%, the lowest in the WHL. Their penalty kill (76.04%) also opens the door for Kelowna’s surging man advantage. Spokane enters the weekend 12–11–0–0 and 5–5 in their last 10.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Season Series

vs Tri-City: Tri-City leads 1–0
vs Spokane: Kelowna leads 2–1

Last Five Games

Kelowna – 3–1–1–0
Tri-City – 2–2–1–0
Spokane – 3–2–0–0

Goals For/Against

Kelowna — 78 GF / 72 GA
Tri-City — 60 GF / 70 GA
Spokane — 58 GF / 77 GA

Special Teams

Kelowna: PP: 19/95 (20.0%), PK: 15/90 (83.3%)
Tri-City: PP: 14/69 (20.3%), PK: 19/65 (70.8%)
Spokane: PP: 7/88 (7.95%), PK: 23/96 (76.04%)

INJURY REPORT

Peyton Kettles (UBI) – Indefinitely

Nate Corbet (LBI) – TBD

UPCOMING MILESTONES:

Tij Iginla – 1 game away from 150 career WHL games
Hayden Paupanekis – 2 games away from 150 career WHL games
Shane Smith – 7 points shy of 150 career WHL points

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Following the weekend double, the Rockets return home for Canco Cares Christmas Night on Wednesday, December 3 against the Prince George Cougars which is the final home game before the holiday break. Tickets available at selectyourtickets.com.