The Kelowna Rockets exploded for ten goals, downing the Spokane Chiefs 10-3 Friday night.
Fourteen different skaters found the scoresheet, with Andrew Cristall, Colton Dach and Marcus Pacheco each posting four-point nights. Talyn Boyko made 27 saves on 30 shots.
Kelowna found themselves in penalty trouble early, taking back-to-back penalties to open the game. After killing them both off, the Rockets found their stride netting six unanswered goals.
“It seemed everything we touched early was going in,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in his postgame interview. “It was good to be able to get a few with the penalties that we took, it could’ve went either way for sure.”
The Rockets took a total of eight penalties, killing off seven of them throughout the game. Mallette admitted he didn’t like the start from his club, but that their speciality teams kept them in it.
“We weren’t ready to start this game tonight for sure, I thought our first three shifts we were on our heels, we took a penalty early. Fortunate for us our (penalty) kill and our power play have kind of been a crutch for us this year.”
Then on Saturday the Rockets picked up their second straight win with a 5-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans.
Kelowna scored the opening goal of the game but Tri-City pushed back with three unanswered goals. The Rockets responded with four consecutive goals to complete the comeback.
"Obviously we got into a couple of penalty troubles," said defenceman Jackson Desouza in his postgame interview. "The guys really beared down, Jari played really well and the guys sacrificed that's exactly what we need to do in those types of games."
Jackson DeSouza entered the night's game with just one career goal, the 19-year-old netted Kelowna's first two goals of the night. Andrew Cristall extended his point streak to eight games with a three-point night.
"It felt good, I had a couple of scoring chances in the last couple of games. But honestly, the two goals is nice, but getting the two points tonight and the two last night was way better."
The Rockets will now head south for a two-game trip the United States where they'll face the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday and the Everett Silvertips on Friday.
Kelowna's next home game is Saturday, November 26th when they'll face the 2022 Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year Brayden Yager and the Moose Jaw Warriors.