Rocket Continuing Their Winning Ways vs. Marlies

In his first game back from injury, Kahkonen started off with some rust in his game, allowing a goal just 1:15 into the game, but settled in as the game went along. However, the guys in front of him made the game easy for him, as he only faced 16 shots on the day. His 14 stops were enough to help secure the victory, thankfully. It definitely wasn’t his best game, but given that he hasn’t played since January 21st, it is understandable that there could be struggles in his game. Nonetheless, Kahkonen did just enough to get his team the win.

Meanwhile, for the 2nd game in a row, the Rockets’ defence was relentless as they rarely allowed any high-danger chances. Everything is rolling amazingly for the Rocket, and it continued on Saturday. The offence may not have been as dangerous as Friday, but the Marlies are also a better opponent than the Bears. As a result, there were fewer opportunities to take advantage of on Saturday.

The Marlies would open the scoring on their very first shot. Marlies forward Luke Haymes would make a good individual effort by cutting to the middle of the slot before firing a shot past Kahkonen, who had to let his rust wear off.

The first period as a whole brought next to no offence, as neither team was able to really get anything going in the opening 20 minutes. After the first period, shots on goal were just 3-2 in favour of the Marlies, which may be one of the lowest shot totals seen combined in a single frame all year.

After a slow start in the first period, the Rocket would come alive and start putting pressure on the Marlies in the 2nd period. Nonetheless, they weren’t able to solve Marlies netminder Artur Akhtyamov early in the frame.

It would take nearly to the very end of the 2nd period for the Rocket to score and tie the game. Joshua Roy would be strong on the forecheck, which led to him getting the puck out in front to Laurent Dauphin, who would finally get the Rocket on the board with 1:39 left in the 2nd period.

The game-tying goal gave the Rocket some much-needed momentum heading into the 3rd period, and it would work out successfully. Early in the frame for the 2nd game in a row, Owen Beck would come out and score a big goal to give the Rocket the lead. Beck’s goal came as a result of a great snipe following a nice pass by Roy to set him up to give the Rocket the lead for the first time on the day.

Later in the period, Sammy Blais would feed captain Lucas Condotta at the side of the net to put the Rocket up 3-1. This goal was essentially Blais paying Condotta back for the Rocket’s 6th goal against the Bears on Friday, as the duo connected for the 2nd time of the weekend. With the assist, Blais is now up to 4 goals, 12 assists, and 16 points in just 13 games with the Rocket as he continues to be one of the team’s top players when he’s in the AHL.

The Marlies wouldn’t go away easily, as they would cut the lead to within one with just under 5 minutes left in regulation. Ryan Tverberg would rip a screened wrister past Kahkonen to give the Marlies some life.

However, Roy would complete his 3-point game by shooting a puck from the defensive zone into the empty net with 1:04 left in regulation to secure the Rocket’s 7th straight win.

The Rocket will now head on the road to take on the Marlies on Monday afternoon at 2:00 pm ET as part of the School Day Game promotion. Their next game at Place Bell will be on Wednesday, February 25th, when they host the Marlies once again at 7:00 pm ET.

Will the Rocket continue to stay hot in their next upcoming games?