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X marks the playoff spot as 琉璃神社 Rockets punch postseason ticket with 9-1 win

Andrew Cristall collected seven points, has 102 on the year

Put an X beside the 琉璃神社 Rockets in the standing as they are playoff-bound after thumping the Kamloops Blazers 9-1 on Friday night at Prospera Place.

The math was simple for the Rockets going into the Mar. 8 contest, win and you鈥檙e in as they were taking on Kamloops, who sits last in the WHL鈥檚 Western Conference.

It was 3-0 Rockets after the first period as they got goals from Marek Rocak, Carter Kowalyk, and Gabriel Szturc. Roack鈥檚 goal was his eighth of the season, while Kowalyk鈥檚 was his first of the season and first as a Rocket. Szturc鈥檚 marker was his 29th of the campaign.

That score remained until the 12:04 mark of the second period when Dylan Wightman scored a powerplay goal to make it 4-0.

After collecting the primary assist in the first four goals of the game, Andrew Cristall decided to add a goal of his own, his 36th of the year.

Early in the third period, the teams exchanged goals with 1:02 as Luke Schelter scored for the Rockets and Blake Swetlikoff for the Blazers.

Up 6-1, Cristall added his second of the game, 37th of the season on the powerplay.

A few minutes later, Kayden Longley got in on the action with his sixth goal of the campaign, making it 8-1.

Late in the game and up by a touchdown, the Rockets continued to throw out their first unit powerplay as Max Graham scored with just over two minutes to go to make it 9-1. It was Graham鈥檚 16th goal this season. Cristall collected an assist on the goal to cap off a seven-point night.

Tempers flared late in the game as there were 12 penalties in the third period, including four as time expired.

With the win, the Rockets clinched a playoff spot and have won six of their last seven games. They leap-frogged the Vancouver Giants in the standings, as the Rockets are now 30-28-3-1, sixth in the West.

鈥淚鈥檓 really happy,鈥 said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to continue to try to move up the standings and see what happens over these next six games.鈥

Cristall became the first 琉璃神社 Rocket since 2007-08 to record 100 points in a season. He now has 102 points on the campaign (37 goals, 65 assists), which is fifth in the WHL.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice that we鈥檙e for sure in the playoffs, but the main message in our room is that we鈥檙e building for something bigger and want to keep climbing the standings to get the highest seed possible,鈥 said Cristall.

Four Rockets collected multi-point nights while not one player was a minus on the night.

Goaltender Jari Kykkanen made 30 saves in the win.

The Rockets and the Blazers will do it all again on Saturday night, for the last time this season, in Kamloops. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. at the Sandman Centre.

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Jordy Cunningham

About the Author: Jordy Cunningham

Hailing from Ladner, B.C., I have been passionate about sports, especially baseball, since I was young. In 2018, I graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree
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