Going into their game last night with the Kimberley Dynamiters the Golden Rockets had earned points in their last 7 games, but that streak is now emphatically over after a 6-1 loss at the hands of the Nitros.
“It wasn’t our best effort from start to finish. We’ve been playing well to this point…I don’t know, maybe we were due for a lacklustre performance but it was unfortunate that we did it against a team that’s right behind us in the standings,” said head coach Ty Davidson.
The start looked promising, as the Rockets got in the board first when Braeden Allkins beat Kimberley netminder Tyson Brouwer midway through the first.
The Rockets held that lead until nearly the midway point of the game, when Jared Marchi got the first for the Nitros with 13 minutes left in the second frame.
Heading into the third, the 1-1 game had the look of a low-scoring slugfest, and the closely matched clubs remained tied until the middle of the period.
Then the flood gates opened.
Eric Buckley scored two goals in 10 seconds and Keenan Hasse added another three minutes later to give the Dynamiters a commanding 4-1 lead. Buckley completed the hat trick with just 89 seconds left and Haase capped the scoring 13 seconds after that for a 6-1 final.
The loss moves the Dynamiters a couple steps closer in the battle for second in the Eddie Mountain Division, as Kimberley now sits 5 points back with three games in hand.
The Creston Valley Thunder Cats and the Fernie Ghostriders have recently made significant moves to bolster their lineup, but Davidson doesn’t appear to be in any rush to follow suit with the Rockets playing well on a whole over the last month.
“If I can see a way to improve us as a hockey team I will but I’m not going to dismantle what we have going here for the sake of one piece,” Davidson. “I think we’ve got a good team here and we’re going to continue to work and develop the team we have.”
Asked where he saw room for improvement, Davidson pointed to secondary scoring and a puck moving defenceman to play on the power play, although he cautioned how difficult the latter is to acquire.
The Rockets will be back on the ice Friday night when the Nelson Leafs pay them a visit. They’ll then host the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Saturday.
