The Kelowna Rockets scored three times in the second period and held on for a 4-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Dawson Gerwing, Peyton Kettles, Nate Corbet and Ryan Oothoudt scored for Kelowna, while Harrison Boettiger made 35 saves. The victory snapped a four-game winless streak and was the Rockets’ first regulation win since October 7.
After a scoreless first period that included a fight between William Matte and Portland’s Jordin St. Louis, the Winterhawks opened the scoring at 3:08 of the second. Sam Auld scored his first of the season, with Will McLaughlin and David Hoy assisting.
The Rockets responded at 8:56. Matte found Gerwing with a cross-crease feed, and Gerwing tapped it in for his fifth goal of the season. Von Lakovic also picked up an assist.
Kelowna took the lead on the power play at 14:25, as Kettles sent a point shot that found its way through traffic and into the net. Dane Sorensen and Oothoudt assisted.
The Rockets added a big insurance goal while shorthanded late in the period. At 19:04, Corbet and Owen Folstrom broke out on a two-on-none, played tic-tac-toe, and Corbet tapped it in for his first goal of the season to make it 3-1.
Portland pulled back within one at 9:23 of the third, with Reed Brown scoring his sixth of the season.
With Portland goaltender Cruz Chase pulled for an extra attacker, Gerwing negated an icing and fed Oothoudt, who tapped the puck into the empty net on the power play at 18:39 to seal the 4-2 win.
The Rockets went 2-for-3 on the power play and killed all four Portland chances, adding a shorthanded goal. Boettiger was sharp throughout, turning aside 35 of 37 shots as Portland outshot Kelowna 37-32.
Gerwing and Corbet each finished with a goal and an assist, while Matte recorded an assist and a fight.
The win was Kelowna’s first since beating Portland on October 16, and it gives the Rockets a 2-0-0-1 record against the Winterhawks this season.
The Rockets are back at Prospera Place to host the first-place Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday, November 4 at 7:05 p.m.
