Losing ugly on home ice

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The Rockets kept making trip after trip to the penalty box, and the Royals—who have the sixth-best power play in the WHL—capitalized with five goals on the power play and added six more at even strength. This was the second time this month the Rockets have surrendered 10 or more goals, having also lost 10-0 at home to the Spokane Chiefs just over two weeks ago. 

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“We got what we deserved tonight,” Martin said about a team that was already down 3-0 after the first period and 8-0 by the end of the second. 

Michael Cicek was the lone scorer for the Rockets, netting his 15th of the season in the third period when the game was well out of reach. 

“There are right ways and wrong ways to do things, and tonight, we were on the wrong side,” Martin added. 

The hope was that starting goalie Rhett Stoesser would bring his best effort to give the Rockets a fighting chance against a Royals team that strengthened its lineup at the trade deadline with two skilled 20-year-olds, Brandon Lisowsky and Kenta Isogai. Instead, those two each had solid outings. Isogai had 1+3=4 while Lisowsky had 2+1=3. Stoesser gave up eight goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Jake Pilon in the third period. Neither goalie has been able to establish themselves as the clear number one amid this tough stretch. 

“There are no new faces coming in to save us,” Martin emphasized. “We need to fix this as a group. It’s frustrating because you want more for the guys. They’re putting in the work early in the week, and then to come out and have a performance like this, especially at home, hurts a little more.” 

This loss is reminiscent of last season’s 11-1 defeat to the Portland Winterhawks on the road, which sparked calls from the fanbase for the firing of then-head coach Kris Mallette. Nothing materialized that season. Mallette was eventually let go 20 days ago, on January 10th, and since the change, the team has posted a 2-5-2-0 record. 

The only silver lining is that the Rockets didn’t lose ground in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Wenatchee Wild (who hold 8th place) were off, and the 9th place Kamloops Blazers lost 6-2 to the Tri-City Americans. 

“It’s frustrating,” Martin said, wrapping up, knowing full well the schedule doesn’t get easier when his team faces the WHL leading Everett Silvertips on Friday. 

“You just get up tomorrow, put your gear on, and get back to work.”