An offensive surge and special teams made a big difference on Monday afternoon as the Kelowna Rockets downed the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-4. The Rockets' record on the season advances to 37-14-3-0.
The Rockets' forecheck, which had struggled over the weekend, came out strong and the Rockets outshot the T-Birds 41-31, with half of their shots occurring in the second period.
While the Rockets had not scored on the powerplay in five straight games, they went 2 for 4 on the PP Monday. They also added a short-handed marker and killed off 4 of their 6 penalties, a number of which were questionable calls by the officials.
With the team down by one, Rourke Chartier got his team going, scoring the short-handed goal on a breakaway at 5:52 of the first period. That goal was all that the Rockets needed to start burying the puck in the net. Chartier added two more for the hat trick, including a beautiful goal from down on one knee.
Justin Kirkland (2G,2A) and Tyson Baillie (1G,3A) both had a four point game, and Cole Linaker added a nifty wraparound goal, ending his scoring slump which has lasted since mid-December.
Video courtesy of SendtoNews.
The Rockets now head to Seattle for the second half of a home and home tomorrow night. They will be back at Prospera Place on Tuesday, February 16th for a matchup against the Red Deer Rebels.
Tickets are available at www.selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.
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