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Despite an incredible 71-save performance from goaltender Michael Herringer, the Kelowna Rockets were knocked out of the WHL playoffs on Wednesday night in double overtime by the Seattle Thunderbirds. The final score was 5-4.
Returning to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for his game one hit on Calvin Leth, Rockets' captain Rodney Southam opened the scoring and gave the Rockets their first lead of the series.
Just 25 seconds later Tyson Baillie beat T-Birds goaltender Landon Bow five hole to make it 2-0. Scoring a pair of goals mere seconds apart appeared to be a recurring theme in this playoff series.
Ryan Gropp responded for the T-Birds just 46 seconds into the second period, on a smart pass from Scott Eansor.
Restoring the two-goal lead for the Rockets was a Justin Kirkland wrist shot, but the T-Birds were able to bring it back within one goal at 15:08 of the middle frame.
Over halfway into the third period Kirkland netted his second of the night, again giving the Rockets a two-goal lead, but the T-Birds came back to tie it all up with two goals in the dying minutes of the game (Bear at 18:45, Kolesar at 19:57).
Michael Herringer was fantastic in net for the Rockets, stopping 71 of 76 shots throughout five periods. Bow struggled at the other end of the ice, but made 28 saves on 32 Rockets' shots.
At 7:52 of the second overtime period, as almost every player on both teams was approaching exhaustion, Thunderbirds' rookie Matthew Wedman took a pass from Ryan Gropp and propelled himself past the Rockets' defence to score the game-winning goal.
Congratulations to the Kelowna Rockets on a fantastic season, and to graduating players Tyson Baillie, Cole Linaker, and Jackson Whistle on three fabulous WHL careers. Rockets fans can all agree that it has been a pleasure to watch these players over the years.
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