Rockets magic returns in Brandon

Photo: Wayne Moore - File Photo

Ryan Olsen had a goal and an assist in the Rockets 6-5 overtime win in Brandon

The Brandon Wheat Kings must have thought they were home and clear.

Even the Kelowna Rockets must have felt their plight would be fruitless.

So wrong they were. The Rockets scraped and clawed back from a 5-3 deficit with goals 29 seconds apart in the final minute of regulation time then got the winner midway through overtime to pull out a 6-5 win in Brandon.

Peter Quenneville scored his second of the night on a Wheat Kings power-play with 2:20 left in regulation to give Brandon what appeared to be an insurmountable 5-3 lead.

Even assistant coach Dan Lambert thought the task would fall short after Brandon netminder Jordan Papirny made a great save in the waning moments.

Veterans Ryan Olsen and Myles Bell made sure the Rockets would not drop this one.

Olsen cut the deficit to one extending his goal streak to three games then Bell tied it 29 seconds later at 19:51.

Bell also scored the game winner off a nifty feed from Tyson Baillie at 2:52 of overtime. The goal was Bell's 14th of the season and fourth in two games.

Zach Franko, Rourke Chartier and Kris Schmidli also scored for the Rockets.

The Rockets power-play, which has had trouble getting untracked over the past several games found some success Friday scoring twice on three opportunities.

Lambert, speaking on the radio post game show admitted it wasn't the Rockets best effort of the season.

"You could look at the whole game and say we didn't give it out best effort but we didn't give up," says Lambert.

"There were a lot of reasons to give up but we didn't. We found a way."

Friday's win was the Rockets ninth in a row and 10th straight on the road.

They look to extend both streaks Saturday when they continue their six game road in Regina.

The Rockets finish off the trip Sunday in Prince Albert and Tuesday in Saskatoon.