The Kelowna Rockets defeated the Regina Pats 9-1 on Saturday at Prospera Place as the Pats fell to 0-2 on their road trip.
The Pats and Rockets were tied up a one in the first period before Kelowna went on a stretch where they scored eight straight goals. After Kelowna opened the scoring, Tye Spencer redirected the puck home to tie things up. That would last only 24 seconds as the Rockets retook the lead and did not look black.
Andrew Cristall (3G-2A) and Tij Iginla (1G-4A) led the way for Kelowna as each grabbed five point games. Jake Pilon made 26 saves in the Rockets 11th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: Rockets 9, Pats 1
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0: Rockets at 3:22 – Jakub Stancl (10), assisted by Tij Iginla // Stancl’s shot from the left face-off dot beat Huet high to the glove side to make it 1-0 early in the game.
1-1: Pats at 4:45 – Tye Spencer (7), assisted by Aleksey Chichkin & Caden Brown // Brown found Chichkin at the left point and his shot from the left circle was redirected neatly by Spencer to even the contest up at 1-1.
2-1: Rockets at 5:09 – Hiroki Gojsic (7), assisted by Andrew Cristall & Jakub Stancl // The Rockets worked the puck around near the Pats net and Cristall sent a cross ice pass to Gojsic who put it into a wide open cage to make it 2-1 Rockets.
3-1: Rockets at 9:31 – Andrew Cristall (16), assisted by Jakub Stancl & Marek Rocak // A turnover in the Pats zone saw Stancl grab the puck and send a cross crease pass to Cristall who one-timed it past Huet to extend the Rockets lead to a pair at 3-1.
4-1: Rockets at 11:17 – Tij Iginla (14), assisted by Rowan Guest // Iginla scooped up the puck and skated around the Pats net and tucked a wraparounder past Huet to make it 4-1.
5-1: Rockets at 18:07 – Max Graham (9), assisted by Tij Iginla & Andrew Cristall (PP) // The Rockets work it around the Pats zone where Iginla found Graham in front and he wired home the one-timer to make it 5-1.
Second Period
6-1: Rockets at 3:30 – Andrew Cristall (17), unassisted // Cristall split the defence and skated in on Pyne and as he crashed the net, the puck squeaked through to give the Rockets a 6-1 advantage.
7-1: Rockets at 6:36 – Andrew Cristall (18), assisted by Jakub Stancl & Max Graham // Cristall fired a shot from the right circle far side off the bar and in to make it 7-1.
8-1: Rockets at 19:20 – Kanjyu Gojsic (5), assisted by Marek Rocak & Tij Iginla // Rocak directed the puck at the Pats net and Gojsic was able to tip it past Pyne to make it 8-1.
Third Period
9-1: Rockets at 16:46 – Nate Corbet (3), assisted by Tij Iginla & Michael Cicek // Iginla came in on the right wing side and found a streaking Corbet, and from the top of the left circle he beat Pyne five hole to make it 9-1.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 10-5-12–27 | Kelowna – 9-14-8–31
PP: Regina – 0/3 | Kelowna – 1/2
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Ewan Huet (4 saves / 9 shots in 20 minutes) & Kelton Pyne (18 saves / 22 shots in 40 minutes)
Kelowna: Jake Pilon ( 26 saves / 27 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Andrew Cristall (3G-2A) – Rockets
Second: Jakub Stancl (1G-3A) – Rockets
Third: Jake Pilon (26SVS) – Rockets
COMING UP
The Pats will look to rebound on Tuesday in Victoria as they take on the Royals. The Pats will then battle the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday before traveling north where they will play the Prince George Cougars on Friday. The Pats road trip will finish up on December 8 in Edmonton.
