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WHL  

Rockets earn island split

The Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals renewed un-pleasantries Wednesday in the back half of a two game series in the provincial capital.

For the second time in three meetings between the division rivals the game ended in a flurry of fisticuffs.

Rodney Southam and Devante Stephens were the main combatants for the Rockets as they dumped to the defence of Cole Linaker who was speared by Royals captain Brandon Magee.

Southam and Austin Carroll squared off after the final buzzer as did Stephens and Chaz Reddecopp.

A similar scenario at the end of a game at Prospera Place earlier this month resulted in a one game suspension to Rockets Tyrell Goulbourne for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of a game.

Magee could be facing a suspension for his actions. He missed the first 12 games of this season while serving a supension for a match penalty received in last year's playoffs.

The fisticuffs came at the end of a Rockets 5-3 win as the teams split a pair of back-to-back games in Victoria.

Jesse Lees paced the Rockets with two goals and an assist.

Tyson Baillie, Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier, who had his 10 game goal scoring streak snapped Tuesday, also scored for the Rockets.

The Rockets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period as Chartier scored his league leading 24th of the season sandwiched between two from Lees.

Lees second goal, just second after the midway point of the period chased Royals starter Coleman Vollrath who allowed three goals on just eight shots.

Jayden Sittler went the rest of the way giving up just one goal on 18 shots.

The Royals battled back in the second, cutting the deficit to 4-2 after 40 minutes.

A goal from Joe Hicketts with less than two minutes to go in regulation time brought the Royals to within one, however, starter Michael Herringer shut the door the rest of the way.

Merkley salted it away with an empty net goal in the dying seconds.

Herringer, a former Royals, stopped 30 shots to earn his second with of the season.

The Rockets, 21-1-2-0, return home to face the Portland Winterhawks in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday at Prospera Place.



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