Rockets drop season opener

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Assistant Coach Brandon McMillan didn’t have a good look at the penalty from the bench.

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“I actually didn’t see it,” McMillan admitted to RocketFAN. “Obviously, unfortunate when you go down in overtime.”

Kelowna’s penalty killers were put in a difficult spot with Vancouver holding a four-on-three advantage. McMillan said the group did everything it could to keep the game alive.

“Our killers did a great job,” he said. “They put their bodies on the line. We probably had three or four blocked shots. Harrison Boettiger made some big saves.”

The Giants eventually scored on a shot McMillan felt was simply too difficult to stop.

“It was one of those things where it’s a perfect shot, and sometimes there’s nowhere to defend it,” he said.

The bigger issue for the Rockets may have been what happened before overtime.

Kelowna generated several openings throughout the night but couldn’t take advantage of them.

“We had our chances tonight,” McMillan said. “If we look back on it, we probably had six partial breakaways tonight. We had a lot of chances where we didn’t find the back of the net.”

That included an opportunity in overtime when forward Owen Folstrom was awarded a penalty shot, but couldn’t beat the Vancouver goaltender.

The Rockets’ ability to get behind the Giants’ defence was one of the more noticeable parts of the game.

Some of those chances came from Kelowna defencemen making quick reads and moving the puck ahead. Others were created by forwards picking off pucks around Vancouver’s offensive blue line and immediately turning them into races toward the other net.

McMillan said it wasn’t necessarily the result of one specific tactic.

“I think it was a little bit of everything,” he said. “There were some great plays by our defence, and there were also some really good reads by forwards picking pucks off on their offensive blue line and creating races to their net.”

The Rockets did get production from Ryan Oothoudt, who was named one of the game’s stars after leading Kelowna with six shots on goal.

Oothoudt tied the game in the third period and showed the kind of speed that McMillan believes can make him an important offensive player this season.

“He’s a big guy. He’s got incredible speed,” McMillan said. “He’s probably one of the fastest guys on our team, so he creates a lot of chances through his speed.”

McMillan said the coaching staff is eager to see what Oothoudt can do over a full season.

“He had a nice goal there to tie it up in the third period, and he had a lot of good chances,” he said. “He’s been one of our players that we’re looking forward to seeing in a full season.”

Another player drawing attention was Colton Lien, who saw significant time on the penalty kill.

Lien is still young, but McMillan said there are already plenty of reasons to trust him in an important role.

“He asks a lot of questions,” McMillan said. “Very intelligent player. He’s got a great mind for the game.”

McMillan also pointed to Lien’s defensive instincts.

“He’s got a really good stick, he reads the play well, and that’s what you need on the penalty kill for sure,” he said. “He’s going to be a guy that we lean on going forward. He’s a great young man and a good player.”

For a season opener, it was anything but a quiet night.

There were fights, heavy hits and plenty of emotion as both teams played their first meaningful game of the season.

“It’s the first game of the year for both teams,” McMillan said. “There’s a lot of animosity and a lot of pent-up energy for the first one.”

McMillan admitted the game wasn’t always pretty.

“Obviously, it was a little bit sloppier than what you’d like to see,” he said. “But that’s what happens when you have a lot of new faces, and it’s the first game for a lot of guys.”

Now the Rockets have a full week to work on the details before travelling to Penticton Friday night.

Kelowna has five practices in the books and will have another four this week, along with time to break down Saturday’s game on video.

“It’s great this time of year to have that week, four or five practices to learn and teach these guys how we want to play and how we want to perform,” McMillan said.

The Rockets also still have three players away at NHL training camps, meaning the lineup could change before Friday.

“We could possibly see some new faces,” McMillan said. “But another important week. I thought we took a lot of steps.”