It was a busy night in the Kelowna Rockets end of the ice as they lost 5-2 to the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night.
In the penultimate matchup of the season between these two teams, the Blazers peppered 59 shots on Rockets goaltender Tayln Boyko.
After Kamloops went up 1-0 3:18 into the game, the Rockets stormed back just 86 seconds later when Grady Lenton put a rebound home for his fourth goal of the season.
Ty Hurley nails the pad, setting up Grady Lenton with a juicy rebound. pic.twitter.com/zIHCOpfHOh
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) March 18, 2023
The Rockets found themselves down 3-1 after the first period as the Blazers scored two goals in 2:22 from Emmitt Finnie and Logan Stankoven in his return to the Kamloops lineup.
The second period was the busiest for Boyko as Kamloops fired 29 shots in the period. Boyko held his ground until the final minute of the period when Dylan Sydor scored to make it 4-1 Kamloops.
In the third, the Rockets were able to find the back of the net again when Dylan Wightman scored his 14th goal of the season on the powerplay.
Eyes in the back of his head, Adam Kydd finds Dylan Wightman out front. pic.twitter.com/OLQWMscK7H
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) March 18, 2023
But late in the frame, the Blazers would add an empty-netter on their 60th shot of the game to make it 5-2.
Despite the loss, Boyko’s 54 saves in a game was a career-high.
The two teams will do it all again on Friday night as they finish their regular season series in Kelowna at Prospera Place. It should be a fun one as it’s Nickelodeon Night for the Children’s Miracle Network where the Rockets will be wearing speciality Spongebob Squarepants jerseys.
Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.
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jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
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