Benn buries Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Benn there, done that.
One of these days, the Kelowna Rockets will get around to doing up the
t-shirts.
Left-winger Jamie Benn looked like a man among boys Tuesday night as he
scored three times to lead the Rockets to a 6-1 WHL victory over the
Kamloops Blazers in front of 4,473 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
The two teams will play again Saturday in Kelowna. The Blazers, however,
first will meet the visiting Everett Silvertips tonight.
Benn, who scored 33 goals in 51 games last season, upped this winter’s total
to 34 with the second three-goal game of his two-season WHL career.
The 19-year-old Victoria native scored on the power play (he took a pass
behind the net from Colin Long, got to the post and jammed the puck past
goaltender Justin Leclerc), even strength (he scooted around defenceman
Giffen Nyren and rammed the puck through Leclerc) and shorthanded (he
outskated defenceman Linden Saip to a loose puck and, with a scorer’s touch,
got it through Leclerc).
Benn now has nine goals in his last six games, and has scored in four
straight.
“That was by far his best game . . . probably his last four games you can
steadily see him actually taking over,” Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska said.
“I think he’s now recognizing that there is a lot on the line for everybody
and we’re getting towards that stretch. He’s starting to understand that as
a leader he can’t turn things off and on like a light swtich.”
As often happens when a player has a night like this, Benn could have had at
least three more goals.
He broke in alone off the left side in the middle of the first period, only
to shoot high and wide. Less than three minutes later, Leclerc, who finished
with 28 stops, made a terrific toe save on a shot off the right wing. Midway
through the second period, Benn rang a shot off the cross-bar.
“It was a really good effort,” said Benn, who signed with the Dallas Stars
after they selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2008 draft. “We
really came out hard for the third period and it showed on the scoreboard.”
The Rockets took a 2-1 lead into the third period, where they outshot the
Blazers 14-2 and outscored them 4-0.
“I didn’t think we got our emotional level up enough,” Kamloops head coach
Barry Smith said. “You have to play with some emotion, you have to play with
some passion and I didn’t think we did that tonight.”
Kamloops forward Kenton Dulle actually scored the game’s first goal, at 2:16
of the second period. But the Blazers struggled to mount an attack in the
game’s second half.
“It’s our barn,” Smith said. “We’re at home and playing some good hockey. We
should be confident coming out in the third period.”
Mikael Backlund, Cody Almond and Curt Gogol, with his first WHL goal in his
44th game, also scored for the Rockets, who got 15 saves from goaltender
Mark Guggenberger.
“Our guys really feel comfortable with him in the net,” Huska said of
Guggenberger, who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos at the trade
deadline. “He’s adding a little confidence to our room because they feel
like he’s a guy who wants to get to that next level and will do whatever it
takes to get there.
When the Rockets last visited Kamloops, on Jan. 24, they had lost four in a
row. They won 5-2 that night and haven’t lost since.
“The last time we came here it started to turn around,” Benn said.
“So far,” said Huska, whose club is 4-0-1-1 of late, “that’s what got us
kind of going and feeling better about our game.”
JUST NOTES: The Rockets, who were 3-for-3 on the power play in a 5-2 victory
here on Jan. 24, were 2-for-4 in this one. The Blazers were 0-for-6. . . .
Smith said he “probably” will come back with Leclerc tonight, rather than
going with backup Jon Groenheyde. . . . Kelowna F Kyle St. Denis (broken
scaphoid) sat out his 37th straight game. He should play Friday against
visiting Everett.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca