Rockets fall in heartbreaking fashion to the Kamloops Blazers

The Kelowna Rockets came very close to ending their 12-game losing streak on Saturday, but the Kamloops Blazers had other plans and snagged the 4-3 win at Prospera Place.

"I thought we played a good first period, our second period was good ... we gave one up on the penalty kill but our power play got it back," said Rockets interim head coach Derrick Martin.

"We had a chance to put it away on the power play but we couldn't set up the zone or get established. For whatever reason I thought we backed off."

The game remained scoreless until late in the first period when Kayden Longley scored his ninth goal of the season to give Kelowna a 1-0 lead.

The Rockets then added to their lead early in the second period after Michael Cicek buried the rebound off Levi Benson’s shot.

Cheecho on the spot. @TheWHL pic.twitter.com/VBOhflEpOX

— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) February 16, 2025

Kamloops got on the scoresheet later in the frame after Harrison Brunicke scored on a man advantage.

Less than two minutes later, the Rockets were on a power play and Benson got his sixth goal of the season.

BENNY REGAINS OUR TWO GOAL LEAD OFF THE SWEET FEED FROM PAUPI🤌@TheWHL pic.twitter.com/svFnRabEYS

— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) February 16, 2025

Up 3-1, the Rockets went into the third period with a solid cushion on the scoreboard.

Kamloops made it a one-goal game 7:31 into the frame and then evened the score just before the 14-minute mark.

With the game tied 3-3 and looking like it was going to go to overtime, Tommy Lafreniere fired a shot that beat Kelowna's Rhett Stoesser with five seconds left on the clock.

🚨 LATE GOAL LAFFY 🚨@BlazerHockey | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/F35pkWN3Bz

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) February 16, 2025

The Rockets have now lost 13 consecutive games and will look to get back into the win column on Monday when they host the Tri-City Americans.