Rockets can’t hold off Vees

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The Vees went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Rockets went 0-for-4.

“Anytime you give up two power play goals in a game, it’s going to be hard to win those,” Rockets assistant coach Brandon McMillan told RocketFAN. “One was a really good shot, and one was that we didn’t make the proper read, and they made a good play.”

Kelowna held a 2-1 second-period lead before the game started to slip away.

McMillan felt the Rockets began moving away from their structure, allowing Penticton to take control of the game.

“I thought we started really well and then as the game went on, we kind of fizzled off a little bit, and we weren’t playing to our structure and weren’t playing to our identity of how we want to play,” McMillan said. “And that’s not a good recipe.”

The Vees were able to create more opportunities as the Rockets lost their structure.

“We let them get that equalizer, and then we kind of started to, our game started to fade from there,” McMillan said. “We weren’t able to manage the puck well. We weren’t able to play within our structure, and they got a lot of opportunities through that.”

The Rockets also had difficulty generating second chances around the Penticton net.

“They were boxing out well in front and hard to get,” McMillan said. “We just have to do a better job of getting to that area.”

That will be an area of focus when the teams meet Saturday night again at Prospera Place.

“We have to make sure that the key to our success is getting to the net and getting into the paint,” McMillan said.

Despite the loss, there were significant milestones for two young Rockets.

Daneault opened the scoring for Kelowna with his first WHL goal, while Braunshausen also found the net for the first time in the league.

“Really nice, two really nice goals, obviously, and it’s nice for both those guys to get their first ones in this league,” McMillan said.

He liked what the goals represented heading into the rematch.

“They were good, two good plays and two good recipes right there for how to score goals against this hockey team tomorrow night,” McMillan said.

Daneault finished with a goal and an assist and was named the game’s second star. His first WHL goal came with his parents from Red Deer in attendance.

The Rockets also received a strong performance from goaltender Josh Banini, who made several important saves to keep Kelowna within reach.

His biggest stop came late in the third period on Penticton’s Gio Pantelas, preventing the Vees from extending their lead to two goals.

“That was a huge save for us,” McMillan said. “I think there were like five minutes left in the game at that point, so it gave us a little bit of life.”

The Rockets pushed for the equalizer but could not find it.

“We were able to fight our way back from there, and it just didn’t happen,” McMillan added.

Now the focus turns quickly to Saturday and Kelowna’s home opener.

The Rockets are just two games into the regular season, but McMillan understands the importance of getting a win early, particularly with the home crowd behind them.

“I think it’s huge, especially coming home, having our home opener,” McMillan said.

“I would expect we are going to have a lot of enthusiasm in the game and it should be a fun one for us.”