By Regan Bartel

Raiders score 5 power play goals

Rockets head into Christmas on losing note

Dec 20, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The Kelowna Rockets’ six-game Eastern Division road trip came to a tough and abrupt end Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

Prince Albert scored three times in the opening period, never let the Rockets settle in, and rolled to an 8-3 win, sending Kelowna home with a 3-3 record on a demanding six-games-in-nine-nights swing.

Carson Wetsch, Jaxon Kehrig and Dawson Gerwing provided the offence for the Rockets, who were chasing the game almost from the opening faceoff.

“We don’t want to use excuses,” associate coach Don Hay said postgame. “Prince Albert was better than us tonight. They pushed us back with their speed right from the start, especially in the first ten minutes.”

That early push proved decisive. The Raiders jumped out to a 2–0 lead just four minutes in and made it 3–0 before the game was ten minutes old. Kelowna spent much of the night trying to claw back momentum that never fully arrived.

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“You get down 2–0, then 3–0 that quick, it’s really hard to battle back,” Hay said. “It felt like every time we got a little bit of momentum or scored a goal, they answered right away.”

Special teams tilted the ice further. Prince Albert went five-for-nine on the power play, repeatedly cashing in on Rocket penalties and keeping Kelowna from finding any rhythm.

“Their power play was really hopping tonight and our penalty kill wasn’t very good,” Hay said. “You can’t win games when you’re killing that many penalties. Over the whole trip, our penalty kill has probably been our weakest part of our game, and it’s something we need to look at closely.”

Prince Albert added two more early in the second period, including one on the opening shift, stretching the lead to 5–1. Kelowna answered later in the frame when Dawson Gerwing scored his second-period goal, briefly cutting into the deficit.

The Rockets continued to push and later got a goal from Kehrig, but each surge was met with another Raider response.

“I didn’t feel like we quit,” Hay said. “We kept playing hard, but everything kind of collapsed around us. We gave up way too much.”

Despite the lopsided score, the shot totals stayed relatively close, but breakdowns piled up and Prince Albert took advantage of nearly every mistake.

“They won races, they won loose puck battles, they won faceoffs,” Hay said. “They were quicker than us, and they started with the puck a lot.”

So was it a case of running out of gas at the end of a long road trip?

Hay wasn’t interested in going there.

“You don’t want to use being on the road or a road trip as an excuse,” he said. “You want to come in and play your best all the time. They were on top of us tonight and they took advantage of every mistake we made.”

The Rockets finish the trip with wins in Swift Current, Regina and Saskatoon, and losses in Brandon, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert. At 3-3, it was a swing that showed both progress and areas still needing attention.

“You always want more,” Hay said. “We beat Swift Current, we beat Regina, and the Moose Jaw game probably disappointed us the most. Brandon is playing really well right now, and these guys are playing really well right now too.”

With the Christmas break arriving, Hay acknowledged the timing can play tricks on young players’ minds, but again stopped short of using it as a crutch.

“At this time of year, everybody’s looking ahead to Christmas,” he said. “It’s always a little easier to play at home when the break is coming. You don’t want to make excuses, but sometimes those thoughts creep in.”

The Rockets will get a brief reset before returning to practice on December 26 and opening a three-game homestand one night later.

The message heading into the break is simple.

“Get re-energized,” Hay said.

“Enjoy your family and friends, look after yourself, and come back hungry to have a great second half.”