(Image Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

By Regan Bartel

Out-shoot Hawks 23-3 in the third

Rockets still searching for overtime answers

Feb 4, 2026 | 8:00 AM

The Kelowna Rockets walked out of Prospera Place on Tuesday night with a familiar and frustrating feeling.

Another game. Another overtime. Another point left on the table.

The Rockets fell 4-3 to the Portland Winterhawks in overtime, dropping Kelowna to 0 for 5 in overtime this season and making the Rockets one of only two teams in the WHL still without a win beyond regulation.

And even after a strong push and a dominant final forty minutes, associate coach Don Hay admitted there is no simple explanation.

“We have to be better in overtime. We’ve lost too many points in overtime, and it’s affecting where we are in the standings. I wish I had a good answer for you.”

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The reality is hard to ignore. Kelowna and Seattle remain the only two teams in the league without an overtime win, something Hay called unthinkable considering the skill in the Rockets’ lineup.

“We have guys that can score goals and can put themselves into offensive situations. We just haven’t done it this year.”

Tuesday’s game followed a painful and familiar script.

The Rockets battled back, took a late lead, and still could not close the door.

After being outplayed early, Kelowna found its game in the second and third periods and finally broke through late. Tij Iginla gave the Rockets their first lead of the night when he scored at 11:47 of the third period, lifting the crowd at Prospera Place.

But the lead did not last.

Just 57 seconds later, Alex Weiermair tied the game with a shot from the blue line at 12:44, sending the game back to even and taking the air out of the building.

“That’s a tough one to give up,” Hay said. “We had a big push in the third. We killed a penalty, we scored a shorthanded goal earlier, we had a great play to get the lead and then they take kind of an innocent point shot and find a way in.”

Despite the quick reply from Portland, the Rockets continued to push. By the end of regulation, Kelowna had completely turned the game around territorially.

After allowing 14 shots in the first period, the Rockets held the Winterhawks to just six shots in the second and only three in the third.

It sent the game to overtime, but the extra period again belonged to the visitors.

Portland controlled the puck off the opening faceoff and spent nearly the first minute in possession. Kelowna did get a golden opportunity when Mazden Leslie broke in on a two-on-one and had a chance to end it.

It did not go in.

Moments later, the Winterhawks turned the play back up ice and scored the game-winner just 1:51 into overtime.

“In overtime, they won the faceoff and controlled the puck for the first minute,” Hay said. “Then we had a great chance, and they were able to beat us up the ice on the winning goal. We have to be better defensively and more aware of people around us.”

The loss was especially frustrating given how much the Rockets carried the play after a sluggish opening twenty minutes.

“I thought they outplayed us in the first period,” Hay said. “Their urgency and work ethic were higher than ours. But in the second and third, I thought our urgency and work ethic were higher than theirs.”

The comeback was driven largely by the Iginla line, which again provided most of Kelowna’s offensive push.

“We got a lot out of the Iginla line,” Hay said. “But you need more from everybody. You need a couple of lines going to create offense.”

The point does keep Kelowna within reach in the Western Conference race. With Prince George losing to Red Deer, the Rockets moved to within three points of the Cougars, but slipped to fifth in the Western Conference as the Kamloops Blazers won in Victoria.

Still, the bigger concern continues to hover over this team.

The Rockets are finding ways to get games to overtime.

They are still searching for a way to win once they get there.