loading...
Geordie Wudrick and the Kelowna Rockets hope to keep their perfect home record intact by beating Tri-City tonight. (File photo Chris Stanford)
By Pieter Uni
Looking to grab control of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the Tri-City Americans, the Kelowna Rockets are happy to be home.
After Saturday’s 3-2 win in Kenewick, WA levelled the series at one game apiece, Kelowna now holds home-ice advantage and can put Tri-City on the ropes with wins at Prospera Place on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
For the Rockets, who needed four games to secure a win on the road in their opening series against Everett, returning home to the friendly confines of Prospera suits the team just fine.
In three games against Everett at home in the first round, Kelowna went undefeated, building on a regular season record that saw the Rockets go 20-12-1-3 at Prospera Place.
In order to remain undefeated in playoff action at home, head coach Ryan Huska said the key to tonight’s matchup is simplicity.
“I think as long as we play hard for 60 minutes, really focus on keeping our game very simple and try as much as we can to play in the offensive zone then we will give ourselves a chance to win,” he said.
Kelowna will again rely on Mark Guggenberger and Lucas Bloodoff. After replacing Adam Brown in net early in the first round series against Everett, Guggenberger has been solid. The Richfield, MN product has five wins in seven appearances and was key in Saturday’s win, stopping 35 shots, including one spectacular save off an odd-man rush in the second period of Saturday’s contest. Bloodoff has also been key for the Rockets, scoring four times in his last four games to help pace Kelowna offensively.
The Americans will look to recapture home-ice advantage by stealing a win in Kelowna and will turn to forward Brendan Shinnimin. The Winnipeg native has six goals and four assists for 10 points in the 2010 playoffs, after putting up 82 points in the regular season.
Game three is set for tonight at 7 p.m., while game four is set for a 7 p.m. start Wednesday night. There are still plenty of great seats available for tonight’s and tomorrow night’s games, for ticket information fans can call the box office 250-762-5050 or visit www.selectyourtickets.com
sports@kelowna
863-8049
Tags: Kelowna Rockets, tri-city americans, whl
