If you’ll forgive the cross-sport reference, it was baseball’s Yogi Berra who said “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
Looking at the results it certainly looks over for the Kelowna Rockets in their Western Conference Semi-Final against the Prince George Cougars.
They are down 3-1 in the series and have been outscored 14-5 in those four games.
The Rockets were 6-1-0-1 against the Cougars during the regular season. However, six of those games were decided by one goal and three went to overtime or a shootout.
Back to the playoffs. In Tuesday’s Game 3 Caden Price nearly potted the go-ahead goal in the final minutes of regulation but hit the post. The Cougars ended it 1:22 into overtime for the 4-3 win.
To paraphrase another baseball great, Frank Robinson, “Close only counts in horseshoes.”
Kelowna will need luck and hard work for tonight’s (Apr. 19) Game 5 in Prince George to steal a win from the team ranked tops in the country by the Canadian Hockey League.
As Rockets Head Coach Kris Mallette said after Wednesday’s 2-1 win, that kept them from elimination, they are going into a “hostile environment.”
“I don’t think we competed nearly like we did at home,” he said. “Our big boys are going to have to show up, they’re going to have to lead the way.”
Rockets forward Max Graham agrees.
“We’re back to Prince George, where their crowd is loud and rowdy. We have to try to feed off that energy a little bit and keep playing the same way we have been and hope for more success.”
If Kelowna forces a game six, it will be played on Sunday at Prospera Place with a 2:05 p.m. start.
Tickets would go on sale right after a win in Prince George.
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