Logan Stankoven in action against the Kelowna Rockets on March 18, 2023. (Photo via Steve Dunsmoor)
Logan Stankoven scored the overtime winner as the Kamloops Blazers completed the weekend sweep of the Kelowna Rockets with a 5-4 win Saturday.
The win extends the Blazers streak to nine – and 20 of their last 21 – giving the Memorial Cup hosts their first 100 point season since 1998-99 with four games left to play.
“Yeah, it was a long shift but I kind of had a good chance before the goal to put it away but I wasn’t able to do so,” Stankoven said. “[We] defended for about a minute and then luckily enough I got the puck and kind of made a play around the defender and went down on a breakaway and scored.”
“It’s a good feeling. I’ll give Kelowna credit, they battled all night and we were just able to come out on top.”
Captain Clutch 🫡@DallasStars | @LoganStankoven pic.twitter.com/Psi8dRjSg0
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) March 19, 2023
Olen Zellweger opened the scoring 90 seconds into the first period, before Connor Levis doubled the Blazers lead at 13:54.
Carson Golder put the Rockets on the board at 16:51 to end the first period at 2-1.
Levis restored the Blazers’ two goal lead in the second before three unanswered goals from Kelowna – Andrew Cristall (2) and Dylan Wightman – had the Rockets up 4-3 with about six minutes left to play.
Make it 2️⃣ on the night for @levis_connor 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/mMf3qk7jU5
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) March 19, 2023
The Rockets’ lead lasted about two minutes as Ryan Hofer tied things up with his 40th goal of the season – and 17th as a Blazer – to send the game to overtime, paving the way for Stankoven’s heroics.
Hof with the beautiful Hand Eye 👀@Capitals pic.twitter.com/QKhxTxRWbB
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) March 19, 2023
Stankoven… what a finish. End of a long shift, still decides to challenge the Rockets D, one-on-one and blows wide… wins it on the backhand.
Blazers win a third straight in Kelowna and a stick salute to the 300+ in the fans who made the trek.#Kamloops— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) March 19, 2023
Levis, Stankoven, Zellweger, and Kyle Masters finished with multi-point nights Saturday as the Blazers took the season series against Kelowna eight games to two.
With their 47th win of the season, Kamloops also has the most wins as a Memorial Cup host team since the Brandon Wheat Kings managed 50 wins in 2010 when the regular season was 72 games long.
The Blazers last managed a 50 win season in 1994-95 when they hosted – and won – the Memorial Cup. Kamloops finished with a WHL-best 52-14-6 record that season.
“It was really nice to have the fans on our side,” Stankoven added. “For them to come, I think it was two fan buses to come all the way to cheer us on, it means a lot to us and us players appreciate it, and it was a good night overall.”
Matthew Kieper turned aside 25 of 29 shots for the win, his eight as a Blazer. The Winnipeg native has yet to lose a start since he was acquired in a trade with the Regina Pats in January.
Talyn Boyko allowed one goal on five shots in 6:12 of action before he was replaced by Jari Kykkanen, who stopped 49 of 53 in a losing effort.
The Blazers will head to Washington State for a Tuesday night game against the WHL Western Conference leading Seattle Thunderbirds before a rematch in Kamloops on Wednesday.
They’ll then close out the regular season with a home-and-home against Prince George on Friday and Saturday.
