Memorial Cup: Benn’s four goals boost Rockets to championship game
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
Stars prospect Jamie Benn had one of the greatest nights in Memorial Cup history, notching four goals and one assist as the Kelowna Rockets assured themselves a berth in the championship game with a 6-4 win over Drummondville Monday night.
Benn's four goals and five points were both one short of the single-game records for the tournament and he missed tying them both when his shot at empty net in the waning seconds hit the post.
Asked on AM 1150 Kelowna postgame show if this was his best game ever, considering it was the Memorial Cup, Benn was seemed to think it might be.
"I think so," he said. "It's just one of those games where everything is going your way. I've got to give a lot of credit to my teammates. They helped me."
And teammates were giving high praise to Benn, who leads the Memorial Cup with eight points (five goals, three assists) after the leading the WHL playoffs with 33 points in 19 games.
"I am not even surprised," Rockets defenseman Tyson Barrie told AM 1150 Kelowna. "We saw it all the time back in Kelowna. He's an explosive guy. He's a tremendous player and you saw it tonight that he can make things happen on his own."
Benn scored once shorthanded, once on the power play and twice at even strength on Monday night.
More important than the individual accomplishments, said Benn, was the win, which clinched first place in round-robin play and means the Rockets will advance to Sunday's Memorial Cup title game on Sunday.
Benn's third goal of the game, off a shot from the slot with the Kelowna on the power play, tied the game at 4-4 with 10:34 left in the third period. Just 2:15 later and with 8:19 left in game, Benn snapped that 4-4 tie when he scored off a shot from left circle.
"We showed a lot of character," Benn told the AM 1150 Kelowna postgame show. "It seemed like every time we tied it up they would get another one. But we showed a lot of character and it was a big win for our team."
Benn gave the Rockets a 1-0 lead in the first period with a shorthanded goal. After Drummondville defenseman Dmitry Kulikov lost the puck in the neutral zone, Benn stole it, broke in on net and scored off the rebound of his own backhand shot.
With the Rockets down 2-1 in the second period, Benn made a nice move to get around a Drummondville defender and then sent a cross-ice pass to Cody Almond, who scored to tie the game at 2-2.
Benn scored into the open side of the net with 1:13 left in the second period to erase a 3-2 Drummondville lead and make it a 3-3 heading into the final period.
The Rockets play Windsor on Tuesday in their final round-robin game. It won't have any impact on Kelowna's status in the standings, but Benn says the team still has things it wants to accomplish.
"It's a pretty exciting time for our team, but tomorrow is still a big task," Benn said. "Tomorrow is a big game just for momentum. We want to win every game, but getting to the Memorial Cup final is pretty special."
Benn postgame audio
Here is the audio of Benn's postgame interview with AM 1150 in Kelowna.
Tuesday's game
Kelowna vs. Windsor, 6pm CT (NHL Network-US)
Monday's game
Kelowna 6, Drummondville 4
Standings
| Team | W | L | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelowna Rockets (WHL) | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| Rimouski Oceanic (Host) | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Windsor Spitfires (OHL) | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Jamie Benn Memorial Cup Game Log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5/18: Benn scored four goals, including the
game-winner, and assisted on one other as the Rockets beat
Drummondville 6-4. He was a plus-three and had five shots on
goal. The four goals was one short of the single-game record for
the tournament, which was set in 1975 by current Washington
coach Bruce Boudreau. 5/15: Had one goal, two assists, five shots on goal and a plus-two rating in a 4-1 win over Rimouski. He scored a power play goal, knocking home the rebound of a Tyler Myers shot from the point. Was named the No. 1 star of the game.
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