The Rockets snapped their losing streak on Friday with an overtime win but couldn’t carry that momentum over to Saturday, leaving themselves with a 1-1 record over the weekend against a pair of tough opponents.
Spencer Gerth allowed the Rockets to draw first blood on Friday against the Summerland Steam in what turned out to be a 3-2 overtime win.
The big rookie forward got off to a slow start offensively this season but now has four goals in his past five games, including a hat trick against Castegar late last month.
Tanner Watt extended the Rockets’ advantage with a goal less than a minute into the second period, but the Steam cut Golden’s lead in half four minutes later when Rylan Sideroff beat goaltender Magnus Viberg.
Cody Eglison tied it up midway through the third, which set the stage for Rockets forward Braeden Allkins in overtime.
Allkins hadn’t scored in nearly a month, but he picked an opportune time to break the drought, as his marker with less than a minute left in the first OT period gave Golden it’s first win since Oct. 24.
Viberg was named the Rockets’ first star, stopping 31 of the 33 shots he faced in the victory.
Playing in their seventh, and final game, of a season-long road trip, the Rockets were up against it on Saturday against the Osoyoos Coyotes, who have given opposing teams fits so far this season.
Golden, as it turns out, was no exception.
Troy Maclise got Osoyoos on the board early in the first, but a pair of goals from Watt actually gave Golden an early lead.
It was a tough night from there.
Osoyoos tied the game up twenty seconds later and proceeded to score eight more unanswered goals as they rolled to a 10-2 victory. Maclise added two more for the hat trick to go with three assists, while Aaron Azevedo had a three goal, six point night of his own.
The Yotes remain the class of the KIJHL with a +55 goal differential and 18 wins across 22 games thus far.
The Rockets will (finally) return home for a pair of games this weekend. Division-leading Fernie will be in town Friday, while the North Okanagan Knights will travel to Golden on Saturday.
With two more points added to their season tally, the Rockets now sit in a 4th place tie with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats for third place in the Eddie Mountain Division with both clubs now sitting at 22 points for the season. The Dynamiters are four points clear with 26 points, while the Ghostriders have 29 points with games in hand against the rest of the division. The Columbia Valley Rockies continue to bring up the rear, with just three wins over their first 20 games this season.
