Rockets fall to Chiefs 6-3
October 8th, 2013 – Spokane, WSH
Rich Abney – kelownarockets.com
The Kelowna Rockets gave up an early 3-0 lead to the Spokane Chiefs and could never recover, losing 6-3 Tuesday night in Spokane.
Despite possessing the puck much of the first period, the Rockets were unable to convert a number of scoring chances on Chiefs goaltender Eric Williams. Instead, they found themselves trailing, the Chiefs scored on 3 of their first 8 shots on goaltender Jackson Whistle. A Tyson Baillie powerplay marker drew the visiting Rockets squad to within 2 at the first intermission, after a period where the score was not inidicative of the play.
The second period saw WHL points leader Mitch Holmberg notch his 9th of the year for the Chiefs, before Kelowna’s Myles Bell answered with his 5th of the young campaign. Spokane scored again to make it 5-2 after two periods.
The lead proved to be too much for the Rockets to overcome. Kelowna’s Ryan Olsen scored late, before the Chiefs sealed the game with an empty-netter.
Kelowna came into the game as the only team in the WHL unbeaten in regulation at 5-0-0-1, but couldn’t get going after a series sweep over the Portland Winterhawks. A bright spot for the Rockets was the continued strong play of 17-yr old defenseman Riley Stadel who registered two assists, and took part in a spirited fight in the third period. Stadel has already surpassed his goal total from all of last year with 4.
The Rockets head home to host the Seattle Thunderbirds(6-2-0-0) on Friday, October 11th. The teams are tops in the Western Conference, and will battle it out at Prospera Place. Puckdrop for that one is 7:05.
