Going into last weekend’s KIJHL schedule, the Golden Rockets found themselves planted three points behind rival Creston for the fourth (and final), playoff spot in Eddie Mountain Divisional play with a little over a dozen games left in regular season play. Matched against Fernie at home Friday, and league-leading Revelstoke on the road Saturday, the club played some of their best hockey of the season, capturing three out of possible four points, and pulling even in the standings with the ThunderCats.
Friday at the Plywood Palace, the squad was in tough with the visiting Fernie Ghostriders, who are challenging Kimberley for top spot in the division. Golden always plays strong against the Riders, and the past three games featuring these two clubs have been decided by just a single goal. This contest was no exception.
Fernie utilized their speed right from the opening face-off and had Golden hemmed in their own end effectively, not allowing the Rockets a shot on goal until five minutes into the frame. Just past the midway mark of the period, the locals ran into some penalty trouble, with three consecutive minor infractions. But strong, disciplined and aggressive penalty-killing kept the opposition powerplays at bay. In the final minute of the period, Golden’s Connor Martel worked his way down the left wing boards behind the Fernie defence with a great deke, but his shot just went wide on the short side.
The close play continued into the middle stanza, before the Ghostriders found the range with a pair of goals off the sticks of Gaege Johnson and Coden Fournier. That margin held until the 15:53 mark when some crisp, sharp passing from Deegan Bert and Brock McIlwain setup rugged defenceman Bronson Parker for a powerplay marker. And the Rocket fans were still cheering that goal when, just seconds later, Captain Evan Tsadilas converted a brilliant feed from Dominic Fiorentino and Reid Ashcroft to even the score at 2-2.
Once again in the final period, both clubs continued with the close-checking, end-to-end play that saw the respective netminders (Rider’s Cooper Anderson and Rocket’s Landon Garbitt) shut the door on all opposition snipers. The Rockets did have a powerplay opportunity in the final minute but couldn’t connect. And still again, another contest decided by a single tally.
In the five-minute overtime period, it was the Fernie powerplay coming to the forefront, as Coden Fournier found the game winner off a rebound on the right wing. Final score was 3-2. Fernie outshot Golden 40-34.
Despite falling just short, the Rockets were looking to carry their fine play into Revelstoke the following night, as they took on the Grizzlies in the western centre. And that’s exactly how the contest unfolded, as the KickingHorse crew skated stride-for-stride with Revelstoke for the entire sixty minutes, and managed to find some scoring punch in the process, rolling to an impressive 5-1 victory.
Golden was never behind in this game, opening up a 1-0 lead in the first period with a Dominic Fiorentino tally. They extended the margin to 2-0 early in the second frame as Chaz Jaeb found the back of the net, before Revelstoke tucked one behind Landon Garbitt near the midway mark. Shortly afterwards, the Rockets found themselves two-men down with a couple of quick minor infractions, but held off the Grizzly attack with solid, key penalty-killing. That seemed to spark the Golden offence, as they rallied to score two goals in :18 seconds late in the period to take a 4-1 lead.
A third period marker by Cooper Thompson sealed the game at 5-1. The contest proves significant for the Rockets, handing Revelstoke their first regulation-time loss since November 8th. The win sets the stage for a crucial matchup with the Creston ThunderCats this Friday, January 17th at the Plywood Palace, followed on Saturday when Golden will play host to the visiting 100 Mile House Wranglers.
Written by Tom Stanton
