Rockets return home looking to reset series

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The Silvertips are 3-for-6 on the power play, while the Rockets are still searching for their first breakthrough, sitting 0-for-11.

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It’s a margin that has quietly shaped the series.

And now, the setting changes.

Two games at Prospera Place. Familiar ice. A chance to flip momentum before the series slips further away.

One win changes the conversation entirely – forcing a Game 5 back in Everett. Two wins would reset everything.

But for now, it’s about the next step.

“The situation has changed,” Rockets head coach Derrick Martin said after Friday’s series-opening 4-1 loss. “The mindset hasn’t.”

“There’s no panic in our group,” Martin added. “We’ve earned the right to feel confident.”

That confidence is being tested following Saturday’s 4-2 loss, where the Rockets were significantly better than in game one.

The effort is there. The compete is increasing. It’s the execution that now needs an uptick.

For Kelowna, chances haven’t been the issue. Converting them has.

That includes a quiet start from their top offensive threat.

Forward Tij Iginla, who was dominant in the opening round against Kamloops, has yet to register on the scoresheet through two games in the series. He has been limited offensively, forced into repeated matchups against Everett’s top defensive core, with little space to operate.

Linemate Vojtech Cihar has also been held off the scoresheet, managing just five shots on net through the first two games as Everett’s structure has tightened inside the defensive zone.

It’s not a lack of pressure – but it is a lack of payoff.

Kelowna’s scoring, so far, has come from deeper in the lineup. Hayden Paupanekis scored in Game 2, while Owen Folstrom also found the back of the net – both taking advantage of matchups that have allowed them a bit more space away from Everett’s top pairings.

The Rockets’ other goal in the series came from Ty Halaburda in Game 1, but his absence now looms over the lineup. Halaburda was injured on a heavy hit in Game 2 and spent time in the hospital following the game. He is unlikely to return for the remainder of the series, a significant loss in both production and a calming presence.

Kelowna, however, does get a small roster swing of its own on the Everett side of the equation.

Silvertips defenseman Tarin Smith, a 19-year-old WHL Defenseman of the Year candidate, has been unavailable through the first two games. Smith was injured in Game 4 of Everett’s opening-round series against Portland and, despite the extended break between series, has remained out of the lineup.

Martin has pointed to the series as a constant adjustment.

“I think when you get to this time of the year, it’s a little bit of a chess match,” Martin said. “It’s who’s going to make what adjustment and who’s going to adapt to that quicker. Typically, it’s the team that loses that makes a few adjustments. We’ve got some things in our tickle trunk that we’ll call upon and see what sticks.”

That next phase now shifts to Kelowna’s home building, where matchups, momentum swings, and crowd energy often change the rhythm of a series.

At home, matchups become more controllable. The last change becomes a weapon.

But none of that matters without execution.

The Rockets know it.

Everett knows it.

And through two games, the Silvertips have simply done it more often.

The one truth hanging over everything: the series isn’t over, but the margin for error is starting to shrink.