Kelowna Rockets shutout Oil Kings

KELOWNA – The Kelowna Rockets defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 2-0 on Saturday night at Prospera Place in Kelowna, winning its seventh straight game and moving into a tie for first place overall in the Western Hockey League.

Jordon Cooke stopped 25 shots for his second shutout of the season while Justin Kirkland and Kris Schmidli scored for Kelowna giving them a win in a tightly played game.

The Rockets penalty killers stood tall, shutting down the Oil Kings on eight power play opportunities in the game as the Rockets improved to 14-2-0-2 on the season.

The game was scoreless after the first period before Kirkland scored his fourth of the season on a Rockets power play to give Kelowna a 1-0 lead. Schmidli added his third of the season midway through the third period.

The win was the final game of a stretch of three games in four nights for the Rockets, who are off until next Saturday night when they host Medicine Hat.

It was the largest crowd of the season at Prospera Place as 5,564 fans took in the exciting game.