Rockets win physical one with Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Old-time hockey — an eye for an eye, tit for tat, my captain, your captain and all of that — returned to Interior Savings Centre for about 25 minutes on Friday night.
And by the time the game was 30 minutes old the two best players to that point — defenceman Ryan Funk of the Kamloops Blazers and winger Brandon McMillan of the Kelowna Rockets — were in their respective dressing rooms nursing leg injuries.
“That was an old-time Kelowna-Kamloops game,” offered Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska after his guys had earned a 5-3 victory before 4,188 fans.
The victory gave the sixth-place Rockets a four-point lead on the Blazers in the Western Conference standings. The teams meet again tonight in Kelowna.
“They were the better team,” Guy Charron, the Blazers’ head coach, said. “I’ll give them credit.”
Although the shots were 8-8 with 11:04 left in the first period, the Rockets ended up with a 45-20 edge.
“Our first period wasn’t up to par,” Charron admitted. “Our defence gave up too many opportunities. We battled in the second period . . . in the third, they took the play to us hard and we ran out of juice.”
Still, the score was 3-3 with time winding down, which is when the Kelowna line of veteran Mitchell Callahan and freshmen Brett Bulmer and Codey Ito took over. Callahan broke the tie with his 18th goal at 15:46 and Ito added insurance, with his second, at 16:55.
Callahan finished with a goal and two assists, all in the third period.
“Brett Bulmer has been the catalyst on that line,” Huska said. “He’s skating very well for a big man. Codey Ito . . . when he’s skating there aren’t a lot of people who bring as much energy and jump as him.
“Mitchell played the way Mitchell plays all the time.”
Callahan was named the game’s first star, drawing boos from the fans who were still hanging around at game’s end. Not only had he figured in the game’s last three goals, but he also had taken Funk out of the game.
Funk, the Blazers’ captain, was a thorn in the side of the visitors in the early going, drilling defenceman Tyson Barrie and scoring a goal. So it came to pass that Callahan took out Funk, challenging him to a fight and then crumpling the leery combatant with a devastating punch. Funk subsequently was helped from the ice with ligament damage to his right ankle.
“Long term, it looks OK,” Charron said, “but short term it’s probably going to be a while.”
Off the ensuing faceoff, Kamloops defenceman Josh Caron battled Kelowna winger Lucas Bloodoff, who just happens to be the Rockets’ captain.
Later, in the span of 10 seconds in the second period, Kelowna forward Spencer Main challenged the Blazers’ Ryan Hanes after the latter put a clean hit on defenceman Colton Jobke, and 5-foot-10 JC Lipon of the Blazers danced with Bulmer, who goes at least 6-foot-3.
The Rockets had gotten a tremendous first period from McMillan — he scored twice and could have had a third only to be stymied by goaltender Kurtis Mucha on a penatly shot.
However, McMillan left in the second period with a left leg injury after going wide on defenceman Tyler Hansen, running out of room and crashing into the end boards.
McMillan returned for one shift, looked to be in some discomfort and left the game.
Funk won’t play tonight and, although Huska said McMillan was “OK,” you have to think he’s at least doubtful.
Geordie Wudrick had Kelowna’s other goal, while Jordan DePape and Brendan Ranford also scored for the Blazers.
Mucha finished with 40 saves — “He was very good . . . very good,” Charron said — and likely will start again tonight.
Kelowna’s Adam Brown stopped 17 shots, none bigger than a glove save on DePape at 11:14 of the third with the score 3-3.
“You know,” Charron said, “if we could have scored there when the game was tied . . .”
JUST NOTES: Referee Andy Thiessen gave the Blazers eight of 15 minors. Each team took five majors and a misconduct. . . . The Rockets were 1-for-5 on the power play; the Blazers were 1-for-4. . . . After playing in Kelowna tonight, the Blazers meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Sunday. . . . D Darryl Sydor of the St. Louis Blues, who is one of the Blazers’ five co-owners, will be in town for a bit during the NHL’s Olympic break. He plans on skating with the Blazers on Tuesday and Thursday. . . . Kelowna F Evan Bloodoff, who hasn’t played all season because of a knee injury, is back practising.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com