Photo credit: Prince George Cougars Hockey Club

By Regan Bartel

Earning a split in weekend double-dip

Rockets show mental toughness in comeback win

Nov 17, 2024 | 7:00 AM

Mental toughness and a refusal to quit—that may best describe the Kelowna Rockets’ 5-4 win over the Prince George Cougars Saturday night at CN Centre. 

Andrew Cristall’s goal with 1:02 left in regulation time, lifted the team to its biggest victory of the young season. 

Cristall’s goal, his 311th career point, which moved him into sole possession of fourth – all-time – in franchise scoring, came 28 seconds after Michael Cicek tied the game at 4-4 with a wrist shot that beat Cougars goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen glove-side.     

“It is next man up. We have a job to do,” Rockets assistant coach Derrick Martin told RocketFAN after his team surrendered three straight goals and saw a 3-2 third-period lead turn into a 4-3 deficit. “The job is not done. You can feel the energy from the guys when you are standing on the bench. We never felt like we were going to squander it.”  

The Cougars took their first lead of the game when sniper Koehn Ziemmer scored his 19th goal of the season with 3:04 left in the third period. 

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“When they tied it up, the group went right back to work,” Martin continued. “We didn’t need a couple of shifts to rebound. We got pucks in deep, hunted it down. Our defensemen doing a good job of working the blueline, getting pucks through. I thought our forwards played a hungry game, and to see them in the third period – late in the game – have that killer instinct, that is a real positive sign for our hockey team.” 

Cristall’s game winner came after Caden Price’s wrist shot from the left point was stopped by Ravensbergen, but the rebound gravitated to the 19-year-old who was penciled at the right side of the net.  

“We talk about it a lot. You get pucks to the net and you have a chance,” Martin added. “Even our first goal of the game, it is a nothing shot that finds the back of the net. You have to win second and third opportunities on the net, and you are starting to see that with this group. You are seeing a hunger and a desire to get those opportunities.” 

Price was arguably the best player on the ice both nights. Collecting two goals and three assists in the two games, while logging a massive amount of ice time, it is only cementing an invite to the Canadian world junior team’s main camp in December. 

“I don’t know how many posts we hit,” Martin asking a question that he likely had the answer too. “There were a lot of opportunities. AC [Andrew Cristall] gets stopped on a shorthanded breakaway, but you never saw our group hang their heads and you never saw us turn away from it and run for the exit. We stuck into it today, battled our way through adversity. Over 68 games you are going to have to do that, and to do it in a tough building like this makes it a little sweeter.”  

What was clearly evident in both games at CN Centre was the Rockets ability to outplay the Cougars five-on-five. The shot-clock was also another true indicator of who had the puck, and who was chasing it.

“One of them is puck possession,” Martin said when asked how they limited the Cougars to 42 shots over the two weekend games. “We had the puck more tonight. We got pucks behind them and made them turn and got pucks back. On the few times they broke pucks out, and gained through the neutral zone, we closed on them really quickly. Gutsy effort and really proud of the group.”  

The win snapped the Cougars run of 23 consecutive home games without a loss in regulation time dating back to last season. It also marked the first time in the last 10 visits to Prince George, playoffs included, that the Rockets managed to win in regulation time.

“The penalty kill was phenomenal for us when we need it to be,” Martin added about his team shutting out the Cougar on five power play chances. “We were a very good hockey team tonight. We were hard to play against in all three zones and it was nice some guys get rewarded. 

“It is one that our group need it; we wanted it really bad and our players did a good job of going out and getting it.”