After losing four straight games, the Kelowna Rockets are back for some mid-week action Wednesday night.
They welcome the Everett Silvertips to town in the final match-up this season. Kelowna leads the season series 2-1.
It’s been a strange stretch for the Rockets of late as they won three games in a row in late January-early February but then lost four in a row after running into Prince George’s high-powered offense and then faced Saskatoon, who they welcomed to town for the first time since 2018.
Four losses in a row is a tough stretch for any team and teams don’t like to make excuses but the injury has hurt this team of late. Thankfully, help is on the way as some of those players are close to returning to the lineup.
Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall skated this week for the first time since playing on Jan. 7. Both he and forward Ty Hurley have been upgraded from week-to-week to day-to-day. The two of them will rejoin the lineup either tonight or Saturday night.
Defenceman John Babcock and Marek Rocak continue to be listed as day-to-day with upper-body injuries while forward Max Graham is still out for another week or two.
Because Cristall and Hurley are close to returning, affiliate players Scott Cousins and Kayden Longley have been returned to their respective teams. Affiliate defenceman Landon Cowper is staying with the team.
But as some players get healthier, another player goes down as forward Logan Peskett, who suffered an injury last Friday night against Prince George, will be out two to three weeks.
Going into Wednesday night, the Rockets are holding on to the final playoff spot (eighth) in the Western Conference with 18 games to go in the regular season (17-30-3-0). Meanwhile, Everett sits fourth in the west with a record of 27-22-2-0 and has nine out of a possible 10 points in their last five games.
Tonight is Fan First Menu night at Prospera Place, meaning hot dogs are $2 and select beers are just $5 and $6.
Puck drop for the third game of this five-game homestand is at 7:05 p.m.
READ MORE: Nephew of former NHLer from West Kelowna suspended from WHL indefinitely
READ MORE: Scotties Tournament of Hearts slides into Kamloops this weekend
@cunninghamjordy
jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.