New Rockets goaltender Talyn Boyko took the first opportunity shot his way to make an impression.
Acquired three days before the Rockets hosted the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday, Boyko started the game and made 27 saves in a 3-2 victory for Kelowna at Prospera Place in WHL action.
Seconds into the contest, Nick McCarry found himself alone with the puck to Boyko’s right side. The goaltender was down and out, but stretched out his right leg and robbed McCarry of an easy goal.
It was so good, the WHL gave him “Save of the Night” honors.
“I like the team. They’re just as good as I thought they were,” Boyko said. “They played a perfect game in front of me. They made it as easy as they could make it. It’s just a great team win, and I’m really proud of the guys. It’s a good team over there; we shut them down pretty good.”
Kelowna’s Nolan Flamand scored the winner on the power play, plus added an assist, to go along with goals from Mark Liwiski and Colton Dach.
It was a clean, quick, skilled game with just five minor penalties. The Rockets were 1-for-2 with an extra attacker, and Kamloops went 0-for-3.
Daylan Kuefler scored 37 seconds into the game for Kamloops, and Josh Pillar added another early in the second.
It was probably even more satisfying for Boyko considering who was in goal across the ice: Kamloops ace Dylan Garand, who made 24 saves.
Both Garand and Boyko are prospects in the New York Rangers organization. New York drafted Boyko in 2021 with the 112th pick of the draft. A year prior, they chose Garand with the 103rd selection.
Goaltenders in the Rangers’ camp will need every edge possible to crack the NHL squad, with New York already boasting two hot, young goalies between the pipes in Igor Shesterkin and Alex Georgiev, who are both just 25.
The Tri-City Americans dealt Boyko to Kelowna for backup Cole Tisdale and a draft pick.
Kamloops (11-2-0) came into the game ranked No. 3 in the Canadian Hockey League. Their only previous loss this season was a 4-2 defeat on Oct. 15 at Prospera against the Rockets (6-3-1).
After Kuefler put the Blazers on the board in the opening minute, Pavel Novak thought he tied it midway through the first period. But his goal was waived off due to a high stick. Liwiski made good with three seconds to go in the frame with a quick goal that caught Garand unaware.
Flamand deserves credit for winning a gutsy face-off in the Blazers’ end. Liwiski knifed into the circle and lobbed a heavy shot that deflected past Garand.
Dach extended his point streak to six games with his fifth goal of the season less than two minutes after the first intermission ended. Pillar tied it again 96 seconds later to set up some heroics. Flamand notched the winner with 35 seconds to play in the second period. Perched atop the right face-off circle, he snapped home a Noah Dorey pass with Liwiski running interference in front of Garand.
There was no third-period scoring.
Boyko said the Kelowna-Kamloops rival played out as he expected with “lots of fireworks.”
The six-foot-seven goaltender did his best to quash some of that energy with that early save.
He admits it was “all out desperation … and I was fortunate enough to get it with my right leg.”
Desperation, fortune… those are exactly the kind of words head coach Kris Mallette was thinking about before the game. Kamloops came into the affair with seven straight wins, and Mallette wanted his Rockets to ignore all the hype and get into the dirty areas of the ice.
“I asked them to play a greasy home game,” Mallette said. “And I thought they played it to a T tonight.
“We kept it pretty simple and we were rewarded for it. They’ve got a good goalie over there, and he had to make some pretty good saves.”
After the game, Mallette was clearly impressed by how his team rose to the occasion against Kamloops. He admitted to challenging the line of Flamand, Turner McMillen and Rilen Kovacevic to play against the No. 1 Kamloops’ unit.
He’s also still piecing his lineup together and wanted a simple game against Kamloops with few high-risk plays, especially along both blue lines.
He said the club is still forging an identity, but players appear to be relishing their roles.
“It’s early, but so far, so good,” Mallette said.
Now, onward. Or shall we say, Northward?
It’s a more pleasant trip north after a win like that, and this weekend the Rockets are in Prince George hoping to extend a five-game points streak with two games against the Cougars. It’ll be five on the road — including three into the US next week — after Kelowna earned nine of a possible 10 points from five straight at home, including a 4-1 win over Prince George on Saturday.
But PG is no slouch this year after a few seasons in the BC Division cellar.
The Cougars (6-7-0) lost 5-3 to the Vancouver Giants (7-3-1) on Wednesday, but never roll over on home ice.
Game time tonight and Saturday is 7 pm Listen on AM1150 or stream the game online at Watch.CHL.ca.
