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Matthew Wedman’s triumphant return to the lineup had the Kelowna Rockets looking like a totally different team on Wednesday.
The former Seattle Thunderbirds captain scored a hat-trick, while Pavel Novak and Kyle Topping added five and four points respectively, to lead Kelowna to an 8-3 win over the Tri-City Americans.
The Rockets launched back into the win column tonight. Check out the recap, highlights and interviews in our Rocket Recap now.
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) February 13, 2020
It looked like it might be another long night at Prospera Place, as Tri-City opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game.
Novak was quick to respond, however, and Wedman would add another first-period tally to give the Rockets a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes.
In the middle frame, Dillon Hamaliuk extended the lead to 3-1 before Topping and Wedman both found the back of the net later in the period, blowing the game wide open.
Connor Bouchard scored a shorthanded goal just eight seconds into the third to bring Tri-City back to within three, but Wedman completed his hat trick just three minutes later to restore the four-goal lead.
Although the game was out of hand at that point, the next goal would be an important one for Tyson Feist as it was the 19-year-old’s first in the WHL in his 99th career game.
Just over a minute later, Tyson Greenway scored his first career WHL goal for the Americans before Mark Liwiski closed out the scoring for Kelowna.
The return of Wedman and Devin Steffler provided a clear boost for the Rockets and they’ll hope for more of the same when Nolan Foote and Michael Farren return to the lineup.
That’s expected to happen this weekend when the Rockets host the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday night.
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