Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Finding solution for scoring

Troubles turning the red light on

Nov 6, 2023 | 8:00 AM

It was a question mark heading into the season.

Who would score goals for the Kelowna Rockets?

With the loss of graduating players Adam Kydd and Carson Golder, and with the status of captain Gabriel Szturc still up in the air, outscoring the opponent seemed like a tall task to overcome.

Surprisingly, the problem seemed to be everted thanks to another terrific start from forward Andrew Cristall, who didn’t experience an NHL hockey hangover, and the emergence of second-year WHL forward Tij Iginla, who scored a goal basically every time he touched the puck. Things were rolling so well in the offensive zone, that the team was only averaged fewer goals scored per game than the high-flying Prince George Cougars.

Currently marred in a four-game losing streak, the Rockets have scored just two goals in its last three games and the power play, which at one time was a lethal weapon with an efficiency rate of close to 40 percent, is struggling mightily to be a difference maker.

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“Our power has been getting cold,” Rockets d-man Caden Price admitted to RocketFAN. “The power play is something we can’t always rely on. We need to generate a little bit more five-on-five and have some more sustained zone time and shooting pucks.”

Price did just that Saturday night, firing home his second goal of the season when he joined the attack on an odd-man rush inside the Red Deer Rebels zone.

“We need to get bodies to the net and just shooting pucks,” he said.

Price has 22 shots on goal this season, which is third best among Rockets defenders, only behind Ethan Mittelsteadt (26) and teammates Marek Rocak (24) and John Babcock (24). Price has played in six few games.

“I think we are really close to getting back on a roll.” Price added. “At times we are just one goal away, and we are on the wrong side of it. We are just missing some details here and there that are setting us back, but we are close and if we string a few things together and get some wins together, we will get back on track.”

Andrew Cristall, who is the teams leading scorer with 30 points, failed to register a shot on goal against the Rebels Saturday night, marking the first time that has happened this season. Puck luck is also plaguing the 18 year-old, who hit a goal post after beating Rebels goalie Rhett Stoesser in an eventual 3-1 home ice loss. Teams are starting to especially key on the dynamic forward in an effort to extinguish the teams offensive fire cracker.

“I would probably be more concerned if we weren’t hitting posts,” Head Coach Kris Mallette reflecting on his teams recent dry spell to score. “We need that killer instinct in front of the net to hang around if their are loose pucks. At this moment, it doesn’t have to be pretty. We just have to generate something. If it goes off a skate, or a back or just a greasy one, that would mean a lot for our group.”

Making matters worse during this recent power outage is forward Tij Iginla, who is leading the team with 13 goals, hasn’t found the back of the net in four straight games. That slide is on the heels of the 17-year-old finding the back of the net in five consecutive games.

“The power play right now is predictable, almost to a fault,” Mallette said, trying to find solutions to what ails his team. “We need to get back in creating momentum with it and not losing it.

“I really don’t like our entries [into the offensive zone] on the power play”, Mallette having witnessed his team fail to score on the power play in their last 18 opportunities.

After enjoying playing 11 of their opening 16 games on home ice, the Rockets schedule gets road heavy with 12 of the next 16 games away from Prospera Place.