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Kelowna Rockets ready for playoffs after two big weekend wins

The Rockets beat the Vancouver Giants 6-2 and 5-2 on Mar. 23-24
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Members of the Kelowna Rockets celebrate their fans after a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants at Prosperpa Place on Mar. 23, 2024. (Steve Dunsmoor photo)

The Kelowna Rockets start the WHL playoffs against the Wenatchee Wild this Friday (Mar. 29)

Kelowna is coming off a huge weekend (Mar. 23-24) as they beat the Vancouver Giants twice in a home-at-home series.

The Rockets were one point back of the Giants for fifth place in the Western Conference on Friday night.

Kelowna won that game 6-2 on two goals from Gabriel Szturc (33) and singles from Kayden Longley (7), Max Graham (18), Andrew Cristall (40), and Caden Price (13).

The Rockets outshot Vancouver 36-24 and went 1/2 on the power play.

Kelowna locked up fifth place in their final game of the 2023-24 regular season with a 5-2 win over the Giants on Saturday night.

Ethan Neatens (9) and Max Graham (20) both scored twice for the Rockets while Michael Cicek rounded out the scoring.

Kelowna outshot the Giants 46-27 with Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen turning aside 25 of 27 pucks.

The Rockets will be in Wenatchee for the first two games of their playoff series on Mar. 29 and Mar. 30.

Being the Wild’s first season in the WHL, this will be their first-ever postseason appearance. They finished fourth in the Western Conference.

The series shifts to Prospera Place for games three and four on Apr. 2 and Apr. 3.

Kelowna last played Wenatchee on Jan. 6, losing 6-3. The Rockets were 2-2-0-0 against the Wild during the regular season.

The Rockets wrap up the regular season with a 33-30-4-1 record.

Single-game tickets for playoff home games are available on the Select Your Tickets website.

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Gary Barnes

About the Author: Gary Barnes

Recently joined Kelowna Capital News and WestK News as a multimedia journalist in January 2022. With almost 30 years of experience in news reporting and radio broadcasting...
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