When passion to play pays off

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“It is tricky going into the Christmas break to fire the guys up”, Rockets assistant coach Josh McNevin admitted after the game. “We have some parents in the stands, so that was pretty exciting for them [players], as they don’t get to see them play that often.”

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For the 15th time this season, the Rockets opened the scoring when Caden Price, from nearby Saskatoon, fired home his fourth goal of the season.

Two and a half minutes later, Andrew Cristall, easily the best player on the ice, scored his 19th goal on a sharp-angle shot that is almost worthy of another look on the WHL Plays of the Week.

“We had some jump, we worked, and we played together”, McNevin said proudly.

The Broncos, the sixth-most penalized team in the WHL, took just two minor penalties, resulting in the road team having to generate goals at even strength. That is exactly what they did, outside of a power play blast from 20-year-old Carson Golder, which was essentially a warning shot that it’s best the home team abide by the rules or pay the price.

Meantime, the Rockets were able to snuff out the Broncos on five power-play chances, with blocked shots and great goaltending from Jari Kykkanen, one of the reasons why the team skated away with their 11th win of the season.

“The penalty kill is a tricky thing”, McNevin added. “If even one guy is a little slow, it creates a breakdown and it usually ends up in the back of the net. The guys were pretty much on point.”

So was Kykkanen, who despite being undrafted, looked significantly better than Broncos and Boston Bruins sixth-round selection Reid Dyck at the other end of the ice.

Kykkanen made 46 saves on 49 shots and was full marks for receiving the second star with the most pucks he has faced in his young WHL career. The previous high was a 47-shot barrage against the Portland Winterhawks in a 5-3 loss on October 29th.

“Jari made some big saves”, McNevin added. “Whether they get 49 shots or 109, you need your goalie to make saves.”

Cristall, the first star with (2+2) four points, was lights-out terrific, playing with enthusiasm and pace every time the puck was on his stick.

“When you get off to that early success, you can’t maintain it”, McNevin said. “Then you start pushing it and get frustrated and he wasn’t producing as much as he had. In those situations, it takes maturity to just sit back and let the game come to you. He did that tonight.”

The 17-year-old is now 13 points back of Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard for the WHL scoring lead.

While Cristall was catching the attention of everyone in the building, d-man John Babcock was going about his business, blocking shots, and paying the price on the penalty kill while chipping in with two assists.

“He works very, very hard. John tends to force the play a little bit. He played a really solid game defensively, which is going to be his bread and butter.”

It was Babcock’s first multiple-point game of the season and the fifth of his career.

After losing five of their previous seven games, all by a single goal, it was nice to see the team enjoy breathing room despite being outshot 16-4 in the third period.

“It was good to get a win”, McNevin concluded. “We’ve been struggling to get the results. We have played really well sometimes, and it hasn’t gone our way.”