The Rockets continued their winning ways on the road Tuesday night in Fernie, with their 7th win in their last ten games, recording a hard-fought 5-3 victory over the Ghostriders.
Tuesday,Nov.1st,2022 Rockets 5 Fernie 3
Behind the strong netminding of a versatile Levi Hall (this week’s KIJHL Goaltender Of The Week), who turned aside 40 of the 43 shots headed his way, the Rockets once again played a strong defensive game coupled with great offensive rushes throughout the entire 60 minutes. Golden rookie forward Evan Tsadilas got things going at 7:30 of the opening period, on a great setup from linemate Hayden Barr. However, Fernie’s Kort Kisinger and Dayton Nelson countered in the latter part of the period to move the Riders ahead at 2-1.
The lead held until near the midway mark of the middle stanza, when Rocket’s talented defenceman Aleksander Jirousek struck quickly for a pair of goals in just over one minute, with some great offensive work. Dayton Nelson’s 2nd of the game with four minutes left deadlocked the score at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
In the final period, the local stars began the frame on the powerplay, and it didn’t take long for the Rockets to regain the lead at 4-3. Liam Furlong had his skill and talent on display as he finished off a neat play from Ethan Aebly and Jordan Lario. Fernie fought back hard attempting to tie the game but strong, disciplined work by the Rockets, particularly on the “penalty-kill” (Golden was assessed three minor penalties in the period) shutdown the opposition. Fiery forward Austin Angus hit for his 2nd of the season with an empty-net goal at 19:06 to seal the victory. In a recent trade with Osoyoos, Rocket’s newest addition to the lineup, Kole Giesbrecht , made his presence felt in a big way with a pair of key assists, and skated miles.
With the win, the Rockets vault into first place in the tight Eddie Mountain Division standings with 19 points headed into the weekend. The club will be on the road to the West Kootenay next weekend, tangling with the Beaver Valley NiteHawks in Fruitvale Friday before matching skills with the Neil Murdoch Divisional leader Grand Forks Saturday night.
Next home contest for the Rockets will be a rare Thursday evening game versus Creston ThunderCats Nov.10th, and then the club will be entertaining the visiting Grand Forks Border Bruins Saturday, Nov.12th.