Rockets Win: 5-1 Victory over Portland
The Kelowna Rockets defeated the Portland Winterhawks 5-1 Thursday night in Portland, taking a 1-0 lead in the team’s best of seven WHL Western Conference semi-final series.
Shane McColgan had three goals and an assist and Adam Brown was brilliant, stopping 45 of 46 Portland shots en route to the win.
Zak Stebner and Evan Bloodoff also scored for Kelowna who capitalized on its scoring chances in an intense match-up between the two teams.
Kelowna led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 after the second before adding two more goals in the third.
The turning point in the game came in the second period. With Portland trailing 2-1 and pushing for the tie with 21 shots on the Kelowna net, McColgan scored with just 12 seconds left in the period to give the Rockets a 3-1 lead heading to the third period.
The series resumes on Sunday in Portland with game two in a 5 p.m. start.
