The Kelowna Rockets fired 46 shots on goal and scored six goals in a 6-0 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night at Prospera Place in the Rockets annual Hershey Candy Scramble game.
Rockets stomp defending league winning Warriors
Tij Iginla potted his fourth career hat trick while Jake Pilon turned aside 17 Warrior shots for his first career Western Hockey League shutout.
HIGHLIGHTS | BOXSCORE | POST GAME MALLETTE | POST GAME PILON
GAME SUMMARY
Kelowna would open the scoring at the 8:25 mark of the first period when Tij Iginla would score his seventh of the season when he fired a shot from above the dots past Moose Jaw goaltender Jackson Unger to give the Rockets a 1-0 lead, one they would hold throughout the remainder of the contest.
Iginla would score his second of the night in the second period on a nice passing play between he and Andrew Cristall where Iginla was able to deposit the puck into the open Warriors net to double Kelowna's lead. Cristall would make it 3-0 when he grabbed the puck on a breakaway and was able to beat Unger five-hole on the power play to make it 3-0. Iginla would make it 4-0 with a rocket shot from the point that went just under the bar, ending Unger's night.
Jackson Gillespie would make it 5-0 with his first of the night off a shot from the point and Brett Calhoon would grab his third goal of the season late in the game from a sharp angle to make it 6-0.
"Our management with the puck was a lot better (than the game on Wednesday against Victoria) and I think it made it look like we played a 60-minute game," said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette. "You're not chasing the game when you're managing the pucks and making those decisions. We got some timely goals and some great goaltending, and it adds up to two points."
"Super excited, it was definitely a surreal feeling," Pilon said when asked about his first career WHL shutout. "We played a full 60-minute game, and the defence did a good job clearing guys out of the front of the net, so it made it easy on me."
ADDITIONAL STATS
- Kelowna outshot Moose Jaw 46-17
- Kelowna's power play went 2/3, making it consecutive games they've scored a power play marker
- Connor Pankratz and Rowan Guest both registered assists garnering their first career WHL points
UP NEXT
The Rockets will now have 10 days between games and will next see action on November 5th when they're in Spokane to face the Chiefs. The Rockets will then return home for three consecutive home games as they'll host Saskatoon on November 8th, Spokane on November 9th and Seattle on November 13th.
