The Rockets won the third period, but little else, as a dismal opening 40 minutes paved the way for the team’s worst home loss of the season in an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Kimberley Dynamiters Saturday night.
“It isn’t a physical thing, we have every bit as much talent as Kimberley has. I have no idea why we weren’t ready to go tonight but that will be something I will be diving into as a coach and hopefully try to rectify,” said head coach Ty Davidson.
“We just didn’t come to play. Mentally we weren’t there…they noticed that at the beginning of the game and took advantage of it, putting us in a hole we couldn’t get out of,” said Rockets captain Daniel Dahlin.
Nitros captain Jason Richter opened the scoring with a power play goal with just over five minutes remaining in the first and Braden Saretsky added another two minutes later. The real backbreaker came late in the opening period when Dynamiters forward Brady Revie flashed impressive speed on a defensive zone breakout and fed a beautiful pass to Alex Rosolowsky for a one-timer that left Rockets goalie Mark Becica with little hope for a stop.
The Dynamiters added five more in the second period, including a flurry of three goals in a two and a half minute span late in the frame, to give themselves a dominant 8-0 lead through two.
There was little action in the third as the Nitros were content to coast to an easy victory, but Nic Noseworthy did salvage a measure of pride for Golden with a power play goal that broke the shutout.
If there was a silver lining for Davidson, it was the team’s resolve in the third with the game out of reach.
“At least in the third period we were playing the game the proper way, we were winning battles…if there’s one positive we can take out of it, it’s that we played a solid third period,” Davidson said.
The loss was costly in the standings, as Creston Valley was also a winner on Saturday to push Golden down to 4th place in the Eddie Mountain Division. The Rockets will hit the road next weekend for a bout with the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Friday before a divisional matchup against Creston on Saturday.
