Power-play punch lifts Rockets on the road

The Kelowna Rockets found life on the power play Saturday night in Langley, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Ranked 21st out of 23 WHL teams with the man advantage heading into the game, the Rockets scored twice on five chances to help power a 5–2 win over the Vancouver Giants.

The timing was ideal, too, coming against a Giants team that entered the night with the league’s worst penalty killing unit.

“Yeah, I thought we all bought into the plan tonight,” said assistant coach Brandon McMillan. “Everyone was going, we were getting on top of pucks, creating turnovers offensively, and scored a couple of power play goals, which is nice. Just a really good team win tonight.”

The Rockets wasted no time setting the tone as Carson Wetsch opened the scoring less than three minutes in. That early strike helped calm a team that’s been slow out of the gate in recent weeks.

“Whenever you score the first goal, it just gives your whole team some confidence,” McMillan said. “You’re playing with the lead, and that’s important for this group to start playing with the lead a little bit and really bearing down in that part of the game. We need to get really good at closing games and not allowing teams to get anything. If we can score first and keep on going the whole game, we’ll be a happy bunch.”

McMillan credited the improved special teams to a week of focused work and finally having a full group together.

“We did a lot,” he said when asked how much the team worked on the power play during the week. “We have guys coming back from injuries, and Iggy [Tij Iginla]hasn’t been a part of the group much this season, so it was important to get everyone on the same page. Even the first one we didn’t score on, we were in the zone for a minute and a half and we gained a lot of momentum from it. We just have to keep working on it, keep finding those little tweaks to help them out. At the end of the day, they’re the ones who have to make the plays and execute.”

Against Vancouver, the Rockets were prepared for a chance to capitalize.

“We knew they had some tendencies we were trying to exploit,” said McMillan. “We just show the guys what plays they can make and where we think they can succeed. At the end of the day, they have to execute, and they did that tonight.”

While the power play grabbed the headlines, Kelowna’s penalty killers also had their moments, even if the Giants managed to score twice with the extra man.

“We had two breaks shorthanded and another chance late,” McMillan said. “I thought we killed the right penalties at the right time. Obviously, we still let in two, but we killed the ones we needed to, and that gave us some momentum. It’s another area we need to get better at, but that’s why coaches are here, to help them out.”

Goaltender Josh Banini was named the game’s first star after a 31-save performance, continuing a solid stretch of play since joining the team.

“He played really well,” McMillan added. “You want to have a solid goaltender, but I thought he had to make a few too many good saves tonight. He’s been doing a great job for us ever since he’s come over. Great game tonight again. He’s given us a couple of good ones in a row, and that’s huge for our hockey club.”

With the Rockets playing just their 12th game of the season, McMillan said the win should help the group find its rhythm as the schedule finally ramps up.

“It’s always hard when you’re not playing much, your timing’s off, your legs don’t feel right,” he said. “It’ll be nice to get in a rhythm. I think it’ll be great for our team to get into that groove where we’re playing three games a week. Then we can start to see some things, exploit some things, and really get into a rhythm for the season.”

The Rockets return to action Wednesday in Penticton before traveling to Victoria for a weekend doubleheader.