Defenseman Jake Lee was the hero last night (Jan.26) as the Kelowna Rockets won their fourth straight game.
For the second consecutive night, the Rockets beat the Victoria Royals 4-3 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
After a scoreless first period, forward Andrew Cristall scored 1:25 into the second to give the Rockets a 1-0 lead. Mark Liwiski potted his second goal in as many games to make it 2-0. After a Royals goal made it 2-1, defenseman John Babcock scored his first career WHL goal to regain the two-goal lead.
Bailey Peach once again found the back of the net for the Royals early in the third to make it a one goal game again. He now sits fifth in the league with 24 goals. A few minutes later, forward Matthew Hodson tied the game at three.
As the clock ticked down in the final frame, Jake Lee scored his ninth of the season with just under two minutes to go to secure the win, their eighth consecutive win over Victoria.
Forward Colton Dach was the only Rocket to record a multi-point game as he registered two assists. Rockets leading scorer Pavel Novak picked up one assist, the 99th of his WHL career.
In his first career start, Jari Kykkanen earned his first career win in net. The 17-year old, Lloydminster, Alta native made 21 saves in the win.
Kelowna still sits second in the B.C. division with 44 points (20-10-1-3).
They’ll be back in action Friday night in Langley as they take on the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
All Rockets games are available to watch on WHL Live on CHL TV at watch.CHL.ca or to listen to on 1550AM.
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