Saturday, November 6th, 2021 Kimberley 3 Rockets 2
Ten games into the 2021-22 season and, despite coming out on the short end of several one-goal games to date, the Rockets find themselves solidly in the hunt for positioning in the tough Eddie Mountain Division. Saturday’s game in Kimberley proved to be yet another nail-biter to the final whistle.
Rocket’s netminder Michael O’Sullivan definitely came to play in this one…….
The Dynamiters jumped on the Rockets right from the opening face-off. However, it was Golden that hit the scoreboard first, at 2:39, when Derek Teare connected for his first tally of the season, assisted by Alexander Johnson. That lead held until Jayden Kostiuk found the equalizer for Kimberley at 15:44. Michael O’Sullivan was simply outstanding in the Golden net, being tested no less than 20 times by the Nitro attack.
In the second period a Kimberley powerplay goal by Austin Daniels, at 7:59, moved the Dynamiters into a 2-1 lead. Rockets offence was effectively kept at bay, as they could only manage a mere three shots in the middle stanza.
Then the play became much more balanced in the third period, when Rocket’s smooth-skating Will Vernon hit for his 5th goal of the year at 16:51, on an unassisted effort. But the draw didn’t last long, as just :43 seconds later Kimberley’s Daniels again hit the mark with the eventual winner. Final score was 3-2. Dynamiters outshot the Rockets 40-18.
The team will be working hard this week, looking to rebound in their upcoming road games against Beaver Valley and Castlegar next weekend.