Last Saturday, the Golden Rockets once again played a solid, full sixty-minute plus game, this time versus the visiting Columbia Valley Rockies, but yet again came up just short.
The first period was steady, end-to-end action. Both clubs battled hard before Rockets leading scorer Kanye Huang does what he does best, neatly deflecting a Seth Flett shot just under the crossbar at 16:23 on the powerplay. Columbia Valley replied with a man-advantage marker of their own two minutes later, as Dylan Duzan banged home a loose puck in the Golden crease. The visitors would move into a 2-1 lead in the final minute, with an Ethan Creole shorthanded tally at 19:03.
In the second period Golden came out flying with good pressure in the offensive end for the first five minutes. However, at 5:37 it was Columbia Valley extending their lead to 3-1, as Trae Lees shot found its way through traffic in front of the Golden net. The Rockets would get one back at 13:22, as Chaz Jaeb and Seth Flett combined to setup speedster Deegan Bert for his third goal of the season on a terrific wristshot.
In the final period, newcomer Bronson Parker (acquired in a trade with 100 Mile House last week), looked solid on defence and made some great rushes up-ice as well. At the 5:32 mark, Columbia Valley was awarded a penalty shot, but Ashton Sledz had the puck roll off his stick as he tried to deke to the right side. Midway through the frame, the southerners had Golden hemmed deep in their end for several shifts, but Landon Garbitt came up with a trio of sensational saves to keep his teammates in the game.
And then, with just under five minutes left in regulation time, Chaz Jaeb came to the forefront, letting go one of his patented point shots that found the back of the net to tie things at 3-3. Brock McIlwain and Chase Pilling picked up assists on the play.
The close, high-tempo action continued in the 5-minute overtime period, but the score remained unchanged.
Columbia Valley would secure the victory in the subsequent player-shootout for a 4-3 win. Rockets outshot their opposition 41-35.
With the first half of the KIJHL season now complete, the Golden Rockets find themselves in a tiny bit of a conundrum, although far from a quandary. But still, nothing that continued hard work, discipline and solid teamwork won’t repair. At this point, the Goldenites find themselves battling with Creston for the fourth and final playoff spot in the tough Eddie Mountain Division. Columbia Valley, Kimberley and Fernie are all bunched at the top.
For the most part, the Rockets have been quite solid, particularly on defence and in goal. The offensive production sits at just a little over two goals per game. To date in Golden’s 23 regular season games, more than half of the contests have been decided by a single goal, while ten of the games have needed overtime/player shootout to decide a winner.
Look for the Rockets to work towards finding the scoring touch in the remainder of the schedule, and start to climb in the divisional standings in the second half. The KickingHorse crew will be making a western swing to Princeton and Osoyoos this weekend. Next home game for the Rockets will be Friday, December 20th against the Kimberley Dynamiters.
Written by Tom Stanton
