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Kelowna's Luca Bloodoff digs for the loose puck in front of Silvertips goalie Thomas Heemskerk as team mate Chris de la Lande helps out during action from the first period at Prospera Place. (Photo Chris Stanford)
By Chris Stanford
In a game that had a bit of everything, offensively at least, and then some, the Everett Silvertips battled back from a pair of two-goal deficits to hand the Kelowna Rockets a 5-4 loss at Prospera Place Saturday night.
There were even-strength goals, power play markers, a shorthanded effort and a penalty shot to round things out but the story was the ‘Tips three unanswered goals in the second and third periods that made the difference.
Everett just plain refused to go away after being down 3-1 early in the second and 4-2 later in the frame, capitalizing on some sloppy Rockets play in the late going, taking the lead for the first time in the contest at 13:10 of the third, and holding on to the end for the win.
“I though we did some good things . . . We had a lot of individual plays that cost us tonight,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “Those were small little mistake areas that bit us the last time we played as well. We have to correct those times where we give out opponents chances to score.”
While the Rockets played with the lead for much of the game, and had their chances to increase their leads, the Silvertips turned things around late and proved why they are considered one of the teams to watch in the Western Conference, even if the standings may not reflect that right now.
The games first star Shane McColgan led Kelowna with a goal and a pair of assists but it was Stepan Novotny who opened the scoring with his ninth of the season at the 49-second mark of the first on the powerplay to set the tone for the Rockets early. But their lead didn’t last too long, as Everett came back and tied it up ten minutes later courtesy of Tyler Maxwell, overcoming their first deficit of the night.
Collin Bowman got the Rockets in gear again at the 14:02 mark of the first with a short-handed point shot and Kyle St. Denis put them up 3-1 with a two-man advantage at the 2:48 mark of the second. Everett however showed their grit and hung in with Radko Gudas getting another back at the 6:55 mark to keep them within reach.
McColgan put the Silvertips down by two again 1:35 later, and then paid a price on a questionable hit into the boards from Everett captain Zack Dailey 14 minutes into the period. He went to the dressing room for several shifts, and unfortunately the Kelowna power play couldn’t make good on the subsequent five-on-three.
With the Kelowna offense stalled, Everett regrouped and Markus McCrea’s goal got their drive going deep in the second, and when Stepan Novotny missed the net on a penalty shot with 1:23 left before intermission, the tide had already started to turn.
Everett added two more in the third to complete the comeback, the first from Cameron Abney and the game winner on the power play by Kellan Tochkin at the 13:10 mark, improving their record to 6-2-0-0, while the Rockets slip to 6-4-1-0.
Kelowna netminder Adam Brown faced 25 shots, while Everett’s Thomas Heemskerk tuned aside 32. Mitchell Chapman (D) was making his first appearance back in the Rockets lineup since injuring his shoulder against the Kamloops Blazers back on Sept. 25. and had a solid game. McColgan was left sporting only a fat lip from his run into the boards and won’t miss any time.
The Rockets have lost two in a row and remain in third place in the B.C. Division with 13 points, five back of the Kamloops Blazers and the Vancouver Giants.
They will have a chance to rest and regroup before their next game Oct. 23 when they travel to Tri-City to meet the 8-2-0-0 Americans.
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- Kelowna's Luca Bloodoff digs for the loose puck in front of Silvertips goalie Thomas Heemskerk as team mate Chris de la Lande helps out during action from the first period at Prospera Place. (Photo Chris Stanford)
