A pair of weekend losses (one at home and one on the road) for the Rockets on this weekend, as they continue to strive to gain ground in the Eddie Mountain Division standings. The club has shown lots of spark in recent games, however the team still looks towards a greater finishing touch around the opposition net, along with playing a full and balanced 60-minute contest.
Friday, January 7th, 2022 Kimberley 6 Rockets 2
Friday night at home in the Plywood Palace, the Rockets saw Kimberley skating at high-speed right out of the dressing room, a pace they maintained for a full three periods. Levi Hall in the Golden cage was very busy directly from the opening face-off, having to fend off shots from virtually every angle.
Holding period leads of 2-0 and 4-1, the Nitro rolled to a 6-2 win. The victory included four powerplay goals by the visitors.
Rocket tallies came off the sticks of Golden’s “Player of the Month” for December Brydon Foster and wily centerman Will Vernon. Rockets’ captain Jordan Lario played a strong game all night, and was stymied on a penalty-shot opportunity with two minutes left in the third period. Kimberley outshot Golden 52-37 in the game.
Saturday, January 8th, 2022 Creston 7 Rockets 5
Key matchup in the divisional standings as the Rockets travelled to Creston for the third time this season. Colton Day was between the pipes for this one, and had a very strong game making several sparkling saves.
Creston hit the scoresheet first, but that lead was short-lived as the Rockets hit for two goals in a little over one minute. Kade Cochlan, with his first goal of the season (and adding two assists during the game) got the club going, followed quickly by a Drayden Gibson marker. A Creston powerplay tied things up before the end of the opening period, as the teams headed to the dressing room deadlocked at 2-2.
In the middle frame Golden took over the play and effectively handled the opposition attack in all areas of the ice. Backed by consecutive goals by Will Vernon and Aidan Ballance the club held a slim 4-3 lead after forty minutes.
In the third period, Creston managed to tie the game once again at 9:17, and once again on the powerplay. However, the Rockets reclaimed the one-goal margin at 14:17 when Austin Angus was rewarded with his second goal of the year after some strong work.
That lead held until a third ThunderCat powerplay opportunity locked things up at 5-5 with less than four minutes left in regulation. Rockets had a powerplay opportunity of their own just seconds later, but couldn’t connect.
Victory eluded the Rockets again in this contest when, at 18:25 Creston found the game-winner, and added an insurance goal with :35 seconds left on the clock.
Final score was 7-5. Creston outshot Golden 43-25. The ThunderCats extend the gap between themselves and the Rockets to eight points.
