Tensions were high in Prospera Place as the Kelowna Rockets and Chicoutimi Saguenéens battled in a tight game, with the Saguenéens earning an overtime win.
The game got underway in Kelowna with the Rockets looking to put Friday’s 5-0 loss in the rearview mirror. The Rockets started strong, and it appeared they had scored the first goal, but it was called back as a crosscheck sent the Kelowna player tumbling into the net, leading to the goal being called off for goaltender interference. Minutes after Kelowna’s no goal, the Saguenéens appeared to score the first goal, but that got called back for a hand pass. The first goal came minutes later as Saguenéens forward Liam Lefebvre got a breakaway, toe dragged the puck around Rockets goaltender Josh Banini and deposited the puck on the backhand to give the Saguenéens a 1-0 lead after the first period.
The second period saw Rockets forward Hiroki Gojsic get the puck in the corner and pass it to forward Tij Iginla on the faceoff dot, where he promptly fired the puck past Saguenéens goaltender Lucas Beckman to tie the game at 1. Following the tying goal, both teams got scoring chances, yet the period ended in a 1-1 deadlock.
The third period saw the Saguenéens fire a point shot which was tipped in front by Anton Linde, redirecting the puck past Josh Banini and barely over the line to give the Saguenéens a 2-1 lead with under five minutes to play. Minutes later, Tomas Poletin took a shot from the point which slipped by Beckman and was then tapped into the net by Mazden Leslie to tie the game at 2. Late in the game, during a battle against the boards, Rockets defenceman Parker Alcos took a cross-checking penalty, which was killed off, and the period ended tied at two.
In overtime, the Saguenéens commanded the flow of the game, leading to a great look on a one-timed shot by Nathan Lecompt, which bounced off the crossbar back to Lecompt, who found Lefebvre, who one-timed the puck, beating Banini and giving the Saguenéens a 3-2 overtime win.
Iginla said the Rockets aren’t done yet despite the disappointing loss.
“I thought we played a much better game than our first one. I thought we made some adjustments and did a lot of things better. Obviously tough to lose that in overtime, but I think we come back and get a big win in the next one. I think there’s still a path for us, so we’ll see what we can do.”
Rockets head coach Derrick Martin said the team came so close and lost by so little.
“I was really proud of the resiliency of the group on their bounce back. I thought that the guys were really bought in, and the bench was really energetic this evening. It’s a game of inches. We lost one more inch than they did, which is unfortunate. But at the same time, you know, what makes me proud of this group is they’re never going to quit. They’re never going to die. We’ve still got an opportunity, and our plan now is that we’ve got to come here on Wednesday night and change the script a little bit.”
The Rockets need to play a full 60 minutes if they want to beat the Everett Silvertips on Wednesday, said Leslie.
“At the end of the day, we got to find a way to get a win here. And I mean, I think the main thing is we’ve just got to find some consistency within our game over three periods and not just play 10 minutes at a time and then kind of keep finding our game in the third period.”
The Rockets will be back in action on Wednesday in a do-or-die game against the Everett Silvertips, while the Saguenéens will face the Kitchener Rangers on Tuesday.
