Coming off a disappointing weekend that saw the team lose three road games, the Rockets surged to a 4-1 victory on home ice against the Kimberley Dynamiters.
The Dynamiters drew first blood late in the first when Jared Marchi scored his 18th goal of the season. The lead was short lived, as Marchi took a hooking penalty 24 seconds later and the Rockets’ Braeden Allkins scored just 10 seconds into the power play.
Rockets forward Nick McCabe took a four minute high-sticking penalty early in the second, but some excellent penalty killing from the Rockets limited the Dynamiters’ chances and Kimberley forward Tyler Garcia took a high-sticking penalty of his own to put the teams at 4-on-4. Nick Hoobanoff, with some help from Ian Desrosier, put the Rockets ahead for good seconds into 4-on-4 play with his sixth goal of the season. Desrosier extended the lead less than a minute later with a power play goal, with helpers going to Coltin Berard and Hoobanoff.
The parade to the penalty box continued for the Dynamiters, giving them few opportunities to get back in the game. Their best chance came late in the second on a half breakaway but Rockets netminder Brian Parsons was up to the task and had little trouble steering the attempt aside. With the game still in reach, it was important for the Rockets to continue to press for a fourth goal.
“Definitely I thought that was a time in the game where if we scored one more goal, it probably would have taken their spirits away from them,” said head coach Ty Davidson. “As soon as we scored that 4-1 goal they started to get chippy and take some undisciplined penalties.”
That fourth goal did turn out to be the true backbreaker for Kimberley and came courtesy of Allkins. The streaking hometown kid now has 10 goals in his past 13 games after scoring just four in the season’s opening 21 contests.
While the game didn’t quite get out of hand in the third, there were a few moments where it looked like it could be about to boil over. The scrappy nature of the Dynamiters play came as no surprise to Davidson.
“They’ve always kind of been that team. They were that way last year in the playoffs. They’ve got some personalities over there that are kind of like that. That’s just the way they are,” Davison said.
Davidson was asked what he thought about the Dynamiters’ chippy style of play. “It’s definitely not my style, I like my guys to play within the confines of the rules. As my team’s shown most nights we are fairly disciplined.”
True to that, the Rockets did stay disciplined throughout the third, content to watch the Dyamiters take numerous penalties and shoot themselves in the foot. Parsons didn’t let the Dyamiters get even a taste of a comeback, stopping all 12 shots he faced in the third to preserve the impressive 4-1 victory.
The Rockets will get right back at it against the Dynamiters Saturday night in Kimberley. It will be the club’s final game before the winter break. Their next game will be on Jan. 3 when former Rocket Connor Beauchemin makes his return to Golden as a member of the Castlegar Rebels.
