Brandon Wheat Kings skated out of Kelowna with a well-earned 3-0 win Wednesday

Photo: Paige Bednorz

The Kelowna Rockets looked like a team playing their third game in five nights and nearing the end of a long road trip Wednesday night.

In fact it was the Brandon Wheat Kings who skated into Prospera Place for game six of an eight game road trip, and left with a 3-0 victory.

The Rockets looked sluggish and out of sorts for much of the game, unable to win the battles they needed to turn things around.

"I think we were very timid tonight...that would be a very nice way of putting things," said head coach Kris Mallette.

"Our puck support was non-existant. I thought there was a lot of watching to say the least.

"Within our game there wasn't enough urgency."

Mllette says of the 29 shots they got, most were directly into the chest of Brandon netminder Carson Bjarnason.

When the Rockets did test Bjarnason, he was outstanding, making a half dozen spectacular stops throughout the night.

In particular, he got a glove on Max Graham's one-timer on the back end of a two-on-one, got his toe on an Adam Kydd chance from in close then somehow got a glove on Andrew Cristall from in close late in the contest.

Nate Danielson bagged what proved to be the game winner late in the opening period. Talyn Boyko, making his first start of the season after being sent back by the New York Rangers, stopped the initial shot, but the rebound went to Danielson in the slot who made no mistake.

Defenceman Andrei Malyavin made it 2-0 early in the second when his wrist shot beat a screened Boyko. Nolan Ritchie closed out the scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle on a Brandon power play midway through the middle frame.

"They capitalized on chances. They just out-competed us on a lot of puck battles.

"They were quick to close, take away time and space...it was two or three Brandon jerseys on one Kelowna jersey tonight. The support just wasn't there."

Mallette says the team is going to get there. He says the team started well, but as the game wore on Brandon found a groove and the Rockets were left chasing it the rest of the night.

Things don't get any easier for the Rockets who will host the number 1 ranked team in the CHL in the 9-1 Winnipeg Ice Saturday night.

It's the first visit for the Ice since they relocated from Cranbrook to Winnipeg prior to the 2019-2020 season.