Blazers battle but fall to Kelowna in shootout
KAMLOOPS — Despite chucking a whole mess of rubber at the Kelowna Rockets net, the Kamloops Blazers came up short against their Okanagan rivals, losing 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night.
The Blazers surrendered just four shots in the opening frame of their final home exhibition game but found themselves trailing Kelowna 2-0 after 20 minutes of play, on goals from Leif Mattson and Nolan Foote. Kamloops had 18 shots in the first period but were unable to get anything by Rockets starting goaltender Brodan Salmond.
Things got worse, as Kyle Topping scored an unassisted marker for the Rockets just 16 seconds into the 2nd period. Shortly after both teams changed their goaltenders, the Blazers puck luck turned around.
Late in the second, Brodi Stuart stole the puck from Ted Brennan deep in the Rockets zone, then found Swiss import Justin Sigrist alone in front. Kelowna goalie Cody Porter stopped the initial shot, but Sigrist was able to swat home the rebound to get the Blazers on the board.