A quick lesson, and a quick response

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“One of the things that is the best teacher in hockey is the clock,” Martin said before Saturday’s game.

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That lesson had been delivered the night before.

The Rockets had a lead in Penticton but struggled to manage the game as the Vees pushed back. Martin felt his team became too cautious in the third period, while Penticton took the opposite approach.

“I really thought in the third period, kudos to Penticton. I thought they played to win a hockey game and we played not to lose a hockey game,” Martin said.

It was a difficult lesson for a team still figuring out how to handle those situations.

But Martin didn’t want his players dwelling on the loss.

“You hope as a coach that you can look back on this as a learning moment and a learning opportunity,” he said.

Less than 24 hours later, the Rockets had an opportunity to demonstrate that they had learned something.

This time, they were the team facing adversity.

Penticton scored first in the home opener, putting the Rockets behind 1-0 on their home ice.

Instead of allowing the deficit to snowball, Kelowna responded.

The Rockets scored three consecutive goals and held the Vees off the scoresheet the rest of the way, completing the 3-1 comeback victory.

For a young team, those moments can be important.

Martin has talked about the need for his players to learn how to recognize what a game is asking of them. Sometimes that means managing the clock. Sometimes it means attacking instead of sitting back. And sometimes it means responding after something doesn’t go their way.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know,” Martin said. “So you’ll learn a tough lesson in that moment.”

The Rockets are going to have plenty of those moments this season.

Through their first three games, they have already experienced a little bit of everything.

They held a late lead against Vancouver before losing in overtime. They led Penticton on Friday before watching the Vees rally. Then, in the rematch, they fell behind before finding a way to come back and win.

That is valuable experience for a team with a number of players experiencing their first full WHL season.

Martin believes the Rockets have enough veteran players and leadership to help the younger players through those situations.

“We’ve got enough old guys in our room and enough leadership in our group that have been through those moments before,” he said. “You really got to rely on those guys in that moment.”