Special teams deliver Halloween treat

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The win snapped a four-game winless streak and gave the Rockets their first regulation victory since October 7.

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After a scoreless first period that included a fight between William Matte and Portland’s Jordin St. Louis, the Winterhawks got on the board first. Sam Auld scored his first of the season at 3:08 of the second period to give Portland a 1-0 lead.

The Rockets didn’t take long to respond.

At 8:56, Matte spotted Dawson Gerwing cutting across the crease and sent a perfect pass through the slot. Gerwing was there to tap it home for his fifth of the season, with Von Lakovic also picking up an assist.

Kelowna grabbed the lead on the power play at 14:25. Peyton Kettles sent a shot from the point through traffic and past Portland goaltender Cruz Chase. Dane Sorensen and Ryan Oothoudt assisted on Kettles’ goal.

Then came the play of the afternoon.

With the Rockets shorthanded late in the period, Nate Corbet and Owen Folstrom broke in on a two-on-none. They played it perfectly, going tic-tac-toe before Corbet tapped the puck into the net at 19:04 for his first goal of the season.

A shorthanded goal to make it 3-1, and a pretty good way to finish off a three-goal period.

Portland wasn’t going away quietly. Reed Brown scored at 9:23 of the third to pull the Winterhawks within one, setting up an interesting final 10 minutes.

But the Rockets did a good job of keeping Portland at bay, including killing off the Winterhawks’ fourth power play of the afternoon.

With Chase pulled for an extra attacker, Kelowna finally put the game away. Gerwing won the race to negate an icing call, then fed Oothoudt, who tapped the puck into the empty net at 18:39.

It was Oothoudt’s second point of the afternoon and the second power-play goal of the game for Kelowna.

Harrison Boettiger did his part at the other end, making 35 saves on 37 shots as Portland outshot the Rockets 37-32.

Listen to our interview with Boettiger:

Gerwing and Corbet each finished with a goal and an assist, while Matte had an assist and a fight.

The special teams numbers were hard to ignore. Kelowna went 2-for-3 on the power play, scored once shorthanded and killed all four Portland opportunities.

For a team that had gone four games without a win, it was a much-needed afternoon. And on Halloween, the Rockets managed to give the Winterhawks a few scares of their own.