A depleted Golden Rockets lineup struggled to keep up with a full weekend of hockey in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
Their three-game weekend started in Fernie with a matchup against the Ghostriders. After going down a goal in the first period, Golden battled back to tie it up in the second. And a scoreless final frame sent the game to overtime.
Fernie scored in sudden death OT, ending the game with a 2-1 score, and sending the Rockets home with only one point, and a couple injured players.
“We were already missing one guy who was called up to Salmon Arm, Bryden Marsh, and then two guys got bumped and banged up in Fernie on Friday night. So Connor Beauchemin, and Carson George are out,” said Head Coach Ty Davidson.
Those players remained out of the lineup for the next two games, leaving the Rockets to play with only three lines.
“Obviously you’re going to be hard-pressed to play your best game when you’re missing three players of that quality,” said Davidson.
Fernie came to Golden the following night to play a lack-lustre game against the Rockets. Both teams looked slow on their feet, but it was the Ghostriders who were getting the lucky bounces.
Fernie slipped three goals past the Rockets’ goaltender Jarrod Schamerhorn, for a final score of 3-0.
A much stronger team stepped onto the ice on Sunday afternoon when the Rockets hosted the Kimberley Dynamiters.
Golden opened up the scoring early with a goal from Kyle Garcia, taking the lead in a game for the first time that weekend.
They gave up the lead at 13:19 in the first, but regained it less than two minutes later. The score was 2-1 heading into the second.
A string of penalties against the Rockets gave the Dynamiters the edge in the second period. They scored two power play goals to take the lead for the final 20 minutes.
A final goal in the third ended the game with a 4-2 win for Kimberley.
“I thought our guys put in a pretty good effort today,” said Davidson. “Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted, but we kept digging right until the end, and we came up short, but it happens.”
Sunday’s game against the Dynamiters was the final home game for the Rockets in the regular season. They play their final five games on the road before they get ready for a playoff run.
“We’re just sharpening everything up before playoffs,” said Davidson. “I think we’ve been playing pretty good hockey lately. We’re not necessarily getting the results that we want every night, but we’re playing really well right now, and we want that to continue as we’re going forward.”
