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Rockets improving despite weekend losses

The Golden Rockets dropped both home games this weekend in two fast paced and exciting games.
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The Golden Rockets dropped both home games this weekend in two fast paced and exciting games.

Friday night saw a tight game against Beaver Creek with the game going into overtime. The Rockets opened the scoring with 4:25 remaining in the first period to take a 1-0 lead with a nice one-timer by Ryan Partaker from Darion Nodick and Jake Gudjonson. The 1-0 lead carried into the second period.

The second period saw back and forth action with good chances on both ends. The Nitehawks were finally able to solve Rockets netminder Colton Iwaschuck with 9:17 remaining in the second to tie the game at one. The second period ended with the Nitehawks ahead in shots by 36-23.

The third period saw even more back and forth action. The Nitehawks took five penalties giving the Rockets five powerplays including a 2-man advantage. Unfortunately the Rockets couldn’t capitalize on any of the powerplay opportunities and the game remained 1-1 at the end of regulation.

With the game going into overtime the Rockets were trailing in shots 41-30, but after playing a solid 60 minutes, The Rockets went into the overtime period with confidence and high hopes.

Overtime continued the back and forth action that the game had earlier with great chances on both ends. However, with 40 seconds remaining in the period Nitehawks’ Dylan Heppler slipped one passed the goaltender winning the game for the Nitehawks in a heart breaker finish.

Despite the loss, Head Coach Jason Stephens was pleased with the performance of the team.

“We finally put in the effort we were looking for,” Stephens said. “We put in a solid 60 minutes. Beaver Valley’s got a really skilled team and to come out 1-1 after 60 minutes we’re happy with that, but to lose we’re not happy with that so we needed 64 minutes not just 60.”

Rockets goaltender Colton Iwaschuck had a strong performance stopping 41 of 43 shots. “He was real good,” Stephens said. “He gave us a chance and we got to take advantage of those chances”

Saturday night’s game saw another strong performance from the Rockets despite an 8-5 loss against Kimberly.

Rockets forward Ryan Partaker scored a hat trick netting one goal in the first period and two more in the third period just two minutes apart.

The Rockets saw better success on the powerplay going three for seven on the night with all three goals coming from Partaker.

The two game homestand saw a lot of positive aspects despite the two losses. Coach Stephens believes the efforts being made are a good sign and will eventually lead to wins.

“This group wants to win and I think we’re going in the right direction,” Stephens said.

The Rockets next home game will be Friday, October 8 when Nelson comes to town, after which the Rockets will head on the road for a rematch against Kimberly.