Rockets Beat Hurricanes 5-2 in Kelowna

KELOWNA, BC - The Hurricanes saw their four game winning streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna Wednesday night.

A much better start in this game for the Hurricanes than the past few games. The contest remained scoreless until late in the period when the Rockets would get on the board with a power play goal. Brett Bulmer tipped the puck by Damien Ketlo to give the home side a 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes responded quickly after. Exactly a minute later, the Canes would take another penalty, but this time Cam Braes tied the game at 1-1 with a short-handed goal. A nice snap shot from the right wing beat Adam Brown on the blocker side. That was the Captain's team-leading 15th of the season and the Hurricanes second short-handed goal of the year. That's the way the period would end. The shots finished 11-9 after 20 minutes.

In the second, the Rockets would jump ahead 2-1 on a goal by Damon Severson. Just seconds after a Lethbridge penalty had expired, Severson blasted a one-timer by Ketlo to give Kelowna a one-goal heading into the third period. The shots were fairly close through 40 minutes of play, 19-16 for the Rockets.

In the third, the Hurricanes tied things up very quickly. Nick Buonassisi took a pass out in front of the Rockets goal and buried it behind Brown for his 8th of season, tying the game at 2-2. That goal came just 27 seconds into the period. The Rockets though would soon get that one back and then add some insurance. Shane McColgan regained the lead for Kelowna to make it 3-2 and then right after that, Carter Rigby wired a slapshot that beat Ketlo to make it 4-2 for the Rockets. That took some wind out of the Hurricanes sails. The Hurricanes tried to push to get back into the game, but Colten Sissons iced it with an empty net goal to make the final 5-2 Rockets. The loss puts an end to the Hurricanes four game winning streak. They were out shot 29-23 in this game. Lethbridge 0/4 on the power play while Kelowna finished the game 1/5. The loss drops the Hurricanes record to 10-21-0-1 on the season.

Lethbridge played fairly well in this game, but got into some penalty trouble which put them a bit behind the 8 ball. Kelowna's second goal came seconds after a penalty had expired. The Hurricanes will now have to regroup here on the road and try and get back to their winning ways on the weekend. Assistant Coach Chris Chisamore said on the CJOC post-game show that despite the loss, he thought they did some positive things in this game. The Hurricanes sat out Brody Sutter Wednesday night. He blocked a shot during the Canes 1-0 win over Spokane last weekend and Head Coach and G.M. Rich Preston says his ankle is still a bit tender. Phil Tot also didn't play as he's still recovering from injury. Both players are listed as day-to-day. Lethbridge got it's big man back on defence, as Daniel Johnston made his return to the Canes line-up in Kelowna after missing a few games with injury.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes continue this B.C. road trip on Vancouver Island Friday night when they play the Royals in Victoria. It'll be the first of two meetings in the next week between the two teams. The Royals will play in Lethbridge next Friday. Game time from Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena is 8:00 pm (MST). The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30. The Hurricanes will play in Vancouver Saturday before returning home for three games next week to close out the pre-Christmas schedule.

Thanks,
Pat