Rockets shoot out to series lead vs. T-birds

For the second consecutive game, the Kelowna Rockets won the third period and skated away with a Western Hockey League playoff win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The Rockets scored two power-play goals in the decisive period to beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-1 at KeyArena and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven opening-round series.

Games 3 and 4 are scheduled in Kelowna on Monday and Tuesday.

"Special teams killed us," Seattle defenseman Scott Jackson said after Kelowna scored on three of eight power plays. "We just took too many penalties. We can't worry about it. We just have to go and win in Kelowna."

For the second consecutive game, Seattle scored first to take a lead. The goal came when Prab Rai tipped in a shot at 10:03 of the first period.

Tyler Myers tied it for Kelowna at 5:04 of the second period to make the game even going into the final 20 minutes.

Kelowna scored just 51 seconds into the period when Colin Long's pass across the slot hit a Seattle defenseman's skate and went into the net for the game-winning goal. Cody Almond had another power-play goal at 11:10.

"We did a good job on that first power-play goal in the third period, and they were fortunate to have it go off a skate," Seattle coach Rob Sumner said. "The penalty standard changed in this game, and we didn't adjust. They have some good offensive players, and we have to find a way to stop them."

Sumner remembers the playoffs three seasons ago when the T-birds played Kelowna and the visiting team won the first six games of the series before Kelowna won the final game at home.

"We can't hang our heads, there's no time for that," Sumner said. "We've dug a hole for ourselves, and it's a good thing it's a best-of-seven and not a best-of-three."