Rockets take 3 of four points at home: Release Kykkanen

The Kelowna Rockets took the best team in the Western Hockey League to the final whistle but fell 4-3 to the Everett Silvertips in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Prospera Place.

Kelowna would jump out to an early lead as Andrew Cristall was able to get a shot through to the net and direct it off Everett goaltender Alex Garrett's leg to make it 1-0. Cristall would add to the lead when the Rockets were shorthanded and he took a breakaway feed and deked around Garrett before putting it into the net for his 13th goal and 40th point on the campaign. 

Kelowna would make it 3-0 late in the second period when Michael Cicek found a streaking Tij Iginla who fired a snap shot far side past Garrett's glove. 

Everett wouldn't go away however as Dominik Rymon would score 32 seconds into the third to make it 3-1 before the Silvertips got goals from Julius Miettinen and Rymon with his second to tie the game at three and send it to overtime where Everett defenceman Kaden Hammell would win it for the visitors. 

"I really liked our start, I thought in the first 20 minutes we were a hungry team and I liked a lot of what we did," said Rockets Assistant Coach Derrick Martin who assumed the role of head coach with Kris Mallette away at the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge in Ontario. "Second period we got into a bit of a special team’s matchup and it has some of your guys sitting on the bench watching because they don't play special teams."

"Third period I felt like we sat back and were almost timid to do the job that we needed to do. Unacceptable by us as a group and its something we'll get back to work on and fix." 

ADDITIONAL STATS

• Everett outshot Kelowna 41-35
• Kelowna went 0/3 on the power play while Everett went 1/4
• Jake Pilon made 37 saves on the afternoon

UP NEXT

The Rockets will now travel to Portland for a pair of weekday games against the Winterhawks before returning home to host the Regina Pats on Saturday, November 30th. Puck drop will go at 6:05 PM.

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ROCKETS PUT EIGHT PAST GIANTS FOR DECISIVE VICTORY

The Kelowna Rockets got a five point performance from Andrew Cristall, two goals from Kayden Longley and 25 saves from goaltender Jake Pilon to defeat the Vancouver Giants 8-3 on Friday night at Prospera Place.

GAME SUMMARY

Vancouver would actually opened the scoring when the Western Hockey League's leading goal scorer Cameron Schmidt beat a sprawling Jake Pilon up high for a 1-0 lead. Kelowna thought it tied the game when Tij Iginla broke it and fired a backhand that beat Giants goaltender Matthew Hutchison, but was determined the puck did not cross the goal line following a review which kept the game 1-0 in Vancouver's favour. That wouldn't last long however as Jakub Stancl took a sweet feed from Andrew Cristall and fired it past Hutchison to make it 1-1. Vancouver would answer just under two minutes later as Adam Titlbach would make it 2-1 in favour of the visitors heading into the break.

The second period was all Kelowna as they'd score six unanswered goals in the frame. Michael Cicek would get the ball rolling with his tenth of the campaign off a sweet feed from Cristall to tie the game just over a minute into the period. Cristall would put the Rockets ahead for good when he corralled the loose puck and found his way through a group of bodies in front to the back of the net. Hiroki Gojsic would extend the lead with a goal of the week candidate as he put the puck through a Vancouver defenders legs and fought his way to the net before finishing off the fantastic solo effort. Max Graham, Kayden Longley and Nate Corbet would round out the scoring in the period to put Kelowna up by five after 40.

Longley would get his second goal of the night at 2:14 on the power play to make it 8-2 before Vancouver would round out the scoring with a shorthanded Tyler Thorpe goal.

"We did a lot of really good things to get those six goals to open things up," said Rockets Head Coach Kris Mallette. "The guys were feeling it which was great and we were able to carry it throughout (the remainder of the game). Jake Pilon was real good for us too though, you've got to recognize him. When they were able to establish some offensive zone time, he came up big." 

ADDITIONAL STATS

• Kelowna outshot Vancouver 31-28
• Kelowna went 1/3 on the power play while Vancouver's went 0/1
• Jake Pilon made 25 saves on the evening

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The Kelowna Rockets announced  they have released 20-year-old goaltender Jari Kykkanen.

The Lloydminster, AB product cleared WHL waivers earlier today. He is now a free agent eligible to join other leagues.

"Following the trade yesterday we are forced to make a difficult decision on our goaltending tandem," said Rockets President and General Manager Bruce Hamilton. "We thank Jari for his effort and commitment to the Kelowna Rockets and we wish him the best moving forward."

Kykkanen has appeared in 109 regular season games, entirely with the Rockets. He went 54-38-6-1 and has a career goals-against-average of 3.50 to go along with a .893 save percentage. Kykkanen also has five shutouts in his career. His best season came in 2023-24 when he played in 51 games, going 28-16-2-1 with a 3.38 goals-against-average and an .896 save percentage. 

Kykkanen also played in 16 playoff games for the Rockets, posting a 3.39 goals-against-average and .904 save percentage. In 12 games this season Kykkanen went 4-7-1 with an .871 save percentage and 3.81 goals-against-average. 

Twenty-year-old forwards Max Graham and Michael Cicek remain on the Rockets with one overage player slot available.