Royals blanked by Rockets in weeknight matchup

The Kelowna Rockets got back on track with a 2-0 victory over the Victoria Royals on Wednesday night at Prospera Place.

After being outscored 19-6 in their last two games, the Rockets were able to hold the injury-riddled Victoria Royals off the scoresheet.

"We struggled on that road trip," said Mallette postgame. "We talked about it as a group, we learned from it and tonight the sacrifice was huge within our group. If we did breakdown [tonight], there was a blocked shot here and there. I really liked our battle in regards to our stick battles and fifty-fifties, I thought we carried the play there against a team that gets really hungry that we're chasing [in the standings]."

Jari Kykkanen turned aside 21 shots to collect his second shutout of the campaign and first-star honors.

"It's nice to get back on track," said Kykkanen postgame. "Especially after the last couple of games we've had, this is a great feeling."

GAME SUMMARY

While on the power play, Tij Iginla (35) skated from the top of the left faceoff circle, letting a shot go from the dot that was initially blocked but he was able to recover the puck and put it past Royals starter Jayden Kraus 7:36 into the game. Five and half minutes later Michael Cicek fed the puck to Hiroki Gojsic (14) who was driving to the net to pad the Rockets lead.

ADDITIONAL STATS

• The Rockets record is now 23-24-3-0
• Kelowna was 1/2 on the power play, while Victoria was 0/2
• The Rockets outshot the Royals 41-21
• This was the sixth of eight meetings between the two, with the Royals leading the season series 3-2-1-0. The two will tangle again next weekend for a doubleheader in Victoria to wrap up the series

UP NEXT

Kelowna will take on the Kamloops Blazers this weekend in a home-and-home series that will start in Kamloops on Friday before shifting back to Propsera Place at 7:05 on Saturday, February 10.