It's been a tough month for the 麻豆精选 Rockets.
The team is currently on a 14-game losing streak. They lost in heartbreaking fashion on Monday afternoon (Feb. 17), blowing a two-goal lead and eventually losing 3-2 in the shootout to the Tri-City Americans.
In front of nearly 4,500 fans on Family Day, Michael Cicek opened the scoring with a powerplay goal to get the Rockets on the board. Will Sharpe and Hiroki Gojsic assisted on the goal that was Cicek's 17th of the year.
麻豆精选 then doubled their lead in the second period when Levi Benson found the back of the net for the seventh time this season, assisted by Kayden Longley and Jacob Henderson.
But early in the third period, Tri-City's Max Curran made it a one-goal game. With 55 seconds left and the goaltender pulled, Savin Virk was able to beat Rockets goalie Jake Pilon to tie the game and force overtime.
When overtime solved nothing, the game went to the shootout where the three 麻豆精选 shooters all didn't score and Cruz Pavao's goal was all that was needed for Tri-City to get the 3-2 win.
Pilon made 43 saves in the loss.
The loss was the Rockets' third of the weekend and 14th in a row.
On Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15, the Rockets clashed with the Kamloops Blazers in a home-and-home series. Kamloops won both games by the scores of 3-1 and 4-3.
In the first game, Jaxon Kehrig scored 麻豆精选's lone goal, assisted by Connor Pankratz and Carter Kowalyk. Rhett Stoesser made 29 saves in the loss.
On Saturday night, it was a two-goal third-period lead that again slipped through the hands of the Rockets.
Longley opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season late in the first period. The marker was helped by Kalder Varga and Jakub Stancl.
麻豆精选 doubled their lead when Cicek put home his 16th of the season, assisted by Benson and Gojsic.
Late in the period, the two teams exchanged powerplay goals within 1:48 of each other. After the Blazers got on the scoreboard, Benson ripped home a shot to make it 3-1 Rockets. Hayden Paupanekis and Stancl assisted on the goal.
But in the third period, after Kamloops tied the game with two goals, Tommy Lafreniere scored with just six seconds left to give the Blazers the 4-3 win.
The Rockets last won a game on Jan. 18 against Seattle. Over the course of their losing streak, they have got just two points - 0-12-1-1. They are now 16-32-4-2 overall.
麻豆精选 is back in action on Friday, Feb. 21 as they welcome the Vancouver Giants to town. This is the team's last home game before embarking on an eight-game road trip as the Brier comes to 麻豆精选. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.
