Rockets off to final

Photo: Contributed - Aaron Bell/CHL Images

Justin Kirkland scores one of his two goals during the Rockets 9-3 win over Quebec in the Memorial Cup semi-final Friday.

The Kelowna Rockets are off to the Mastercard Memorial Cup final.

The Rockets earned the right to face the Oshawa Generals after a convincing 9-3 shellacking of the host Quebec Remparts in Friday's semi-final.

The Rockets weathered an early push by the Remparts, but took over midway through the first and dominated a team playing its third game in three nights the rest of the way.

"We knew if we could manage pucks down low, make them play in their zone that they would certainly get tired. I thought our guys did a great job getting pucks in deep and making their D work," said Rockets head coach Dan Lambert.

"I thought it was probably midway through the first period where I started noticing guys from their team being a little fatigued. Even though the period finished tied 1-1, I thought we had a lot of offensive zone time and a lot of opportunities as well."

An early fight and a quick goal got the Remparts and their fans going but Chance Braid's first of the tournament midway through the period evened the score and sent the Rockets on their way.

Justin Kirkland and Rourke Chartier led the way for the Rockets with two goals apiece. Josh Morrissey, Leon Draisaitl, Cole Linaker and Tyson Baillie also scored for the Rockets.

Kirkland, Morrissey, Draisaitl and Rodney Southam also had a pair of assists for the Rockets.

The goals for Kirkland, Chartier, Braid, Linaker, Morrissey and Baillie were their first of the Memorial Cup tournament, an important feat heading into Sunday's one-game showdown.

"I think you need all engines firing and when a guy like Rourke Chartier who's a good young hockey player hasn't scored yet you know he's feeling the pressure. He has had a lot of scoring chances, and they weren't goingg in. Tonight they were and that's huge," said Lambert.

"Justin Kirkland as well. Here's a young man who missed a lot of time with an injury. He comes back against Brandon which isn't easy to do then he comes here and maybe isn't playing as much and not having the success. It's great to see him be able to bury a couple of chances as well."

Draisaitl got the Rockets rolling with a power-play goal just 17 seconds into the second period when he beat Zach Fucale high to the short side.

Kirkland scored his first of two straight three minutes later when he took Draisaitl's pass on the doorstep, went forehand-backhand to beat Fucale.

A similar forehand to backhand move in front of the net less than a minute later made it 4-1 and took the wind out of the sails of the Remparts.

The score didn't stop the Quebec City fans from showing their frustration later in the period when they littered the ice with garbage when they thought Madison Bowey should have been penalized for the way he manhandled Rempart forward Jerome Verrier late in the period.

The play was allowed to go on for about 20 seconds before play was finally stopped.

"I sense their frustration which happens sometimes and they are very passionate. Obviously they didn't like the way the game was being called and that's how they show their frustration."

The Rockets took a 5-1 lead into the third period and, despite a few mental lapses, were able to bring it home.

The Rockets now face an Oshawa team that shut Kelowna down for much of Tuesday's 2-1 win during round-robin play.

It wasn't until Gage Quinney got the Rockets on the board late in the second that the Rockets were able to flex their offensive muscle.

Still, even with a two man advantage late in regulation, the Rockets were unable to find the equalizer.

Lambert said success Sunday will mean bringing a 60-minute game to the rink.

"We're going to need everybody to bring their A game. We're going to have to throw a lot of speed at them. We're going to have to limit their O zone time in the sense of bringing pucks out quickly and going back for pucks," said Lambert.

"We're going to have to make sure all five guys are coming together so we can get out of our zone quickly. It we can do that, that's going to help us have success.

"When you play against a team like Oshawa that's big and has had some success playing the way they play, It's one thing to say you need to play a certain way, but they are not necessarily just going to let you do it."

This is the third time the Rockets have advanced to a Memorial Cup final.

They beat Gatineau 2-1 at Prospera Place in 2004 and fell 4-1 to Taylor Hall and the Windsor Spitfires back in 2009 in Rimouski.

Sunday's championship game begins at 4 p.m. Pacific Time.