Josh Evaschesen after scoring for the Kamloops Blazers on March 14, 2026 as Kelowna Rockets netminder Harrison Boettiger lies prone on the Sandman Centre ice. (Image Credit: Brian Johnson/Kamloops Blazers)

By Victor Kaisar

Rockets 5 Blazers 1

Boettiger stands tall again as Blazers drop weekend home-and-home against Rockets

Mar 15, 2026 | 7:55 AM

KAMLOOPS — Harrison Boettiger allowed just one goal for the second night in a row as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Kamloops Blazers 5-1 at Sandman Centre Saturday (March 14) night.

Vojtech Cihar’s hat trick paved the Rockets’ offence as he scored a goal in each period to help the Rockets to their fourth wins in a row against the Blazers. The 2026 Memorial Cup hosts also took the season series over the Blazers four games to two.

The result – and Spokane’s 7-2 win over Tri-City – means the Blazers (29-24-7-5) have fallen to sixth place in the WHL’s Western Conference. They’re one point back of the playoff-bound Chiefs (35-29-1-0) with three games left to play.

Josh Evaschesen was the only Blazer to find the back of the net this weekend, and his power play goal at 18:23 ended Boettiger’s shutout bid Saturday night. The Rockets netminder stopped the other 47 shots he faced and was named the game’s first-star.

Deflection perfection 👌 pic.twitter.com/2NsvOSGtQG

— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) March 15, 2026

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Cihar opened the scoring with about 30 seconds left in the first period as the Rockets took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room on what was supposed to be Fighting Trout night at Sandman Centre.

Kelowna then raced to a 3-0 lead after two periods following goals from Ryan Oothoudt at 8:06 and Cihar’s second at 19:21. Shane Smith added to the lead early in the third before Cihar completed his hat trick with a little over four minutes left to play.

Evaschesen finally ended the run of five-straight Rockets goals after he struck on the power play to make it a 5-1 final. He deflected a pass from Ty Coupland past Boettiger, who sunk to the ice as he was just 97 seconds away from his first shoutout of the season.

Logan Edmonstone stopped 28 of 33 shots in the loss as the Blazers remain on 70 points from 65 games. Kamloops is five points clear of Portland (29-29-6-1), Seattle (28-27-5-4), and Victoria (28-28-6-3) heading into the final week of the regular season.

Next up for the Blazers is a Tuesday (March 17) game in Prince George against the fourth place Cougars (41-22-2-0). They’ll end the regular season with a home-and-home against the last place Vancouver Giants (24-38-1-2) in Kamloops next Friday (March 20) and in Langley the following night.