Rockets drop game 3 to Blazers

The Kelowna Rockets suffered a 4-1 loss as the hands of the Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday night, and the series moved to 2-1 for the Rockets.

The Blazers started off the game on a high note, putting pressure on Michael Herringer with numerous shots. Lane Bauer opened the scoring for the Blazers at 8:06 of the first period.

Just over eight minutes later, smooth moves from Devante Stephens led to the Rockets' lone goal at the hands of Kole Lind.

The game remained tied until the latter half of the second period, when Jermaine Loewen pushed home the Blazers' game winning goal. 28 seconds later, Rudolfs Balcers was awarded a penalty shot on which he snapped a shot past Herringer glove side. Late in the period, Lane Bauer grabbed an unassisted marker to give the Blazers a three goal lead.

goal. Bauer makes it 4-1

— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) March 29, 2017

The Rockets certainly did not show the same level of play that they had in the first two games of the series, but they also didn't seem to have much luck on their side, fanning on many shots and hitting the crossbar a time or two.

Tensions escalated late in the game and a line brawl followed a big hit on Stephens from Nic Holowko. Two of the more calm and collected defencemen in the series, Cal Foote and Joe Gatenby battled it out in the brawl and followed Kyle Topping and Nick Chyzowski into the penalty box.

Michael Herringer once again made some huge saves for his team and stopped 34 of 38 shots. Connor Ingram also faced 38 shots and made 37 saves.

Game four will take place on Wednesday, March 29th in Kamloops at the Sandman Centre. We are now guaranteed a game five in Kelowna on Friday, March 31st.

Tickets are available for Rockets home games through selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.