Winterhawks snap Rockets 23-game home-ice winning streak with 5-3 victory

Taylor Leier scored twice as the Portland Winterhawks snapped the Kelowna Rockets' 23-game home-ice winning streak on Friday with a 5-3 victory in Western Hockey League action.

The last time Kelowna dropped a game at Prospera Place was back on Oct. 10th, a 6-4 defeat against the Spokane Chiefs. Despite the loss, the Rockets still have the best home-ice record in the WHL at 24-3-0.

Nicolas Petan, Presten Kopeck and Brendan Leipsic also scored for the Winterhawks (44-8-3), who jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Kelowna finally got on the board in the third period, and Ty Rattie had two assists.

Colton Sissons, JT Barnett and Cody Fowlie scored for the Rockets (40-12-4), who scored three straight goals in the third period before Leispic scored into an empty net to secure the victory for Portland.

Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth made 29 saves for the victory while at the other end Jordon Cooke turned away 29-of-33 shots.

Portland went 1 for 7 on the power play while Kelowna scored once on three chances with the man advantage.

The Winterhawks currently lead the Western Conference with 91 points and the Rockets sit second, seven points behind Portland.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Prince Albert 2, Lethbridge 1 (OT); Saskatoon 4, Swift Current 1; Edmonton 6, Brandon 2; Kootenay 4, Spokane 1; Medicine Hat 4, Moose Jaw 1; Prince George 6, Vancouver 4; Victoria 5, Tri-City 3; Calgary 5, Everett 1 and Red Deer 6, Seattle 3.

At Kelowna, B.C., Leier opened the scoring 2:21 into the first period and Kopeck made it 2-0 for Portland after 20 minutes of play.

Petan added another goal for the Winterhawks early in the second period and Leier's second goal of the game came by way of power play, giving the Winterhawks a 4-0 lead heading into the final period.

Barnett put the Rockets on the board with a power-play goal 6:19 into the third and Fowlie followed him up to make it 4-2 with six minutes to play.

Sissons made it a one-goal game at 18:42, however Leipsic scored into an empty net to secure the victory for Portland.

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Raiders 2 Hurricanes 1 (OT)

At Prince Albert, Sask., Josh Morrissey scored with only 14 seconds remaining in overtime and Luke Siemens stopped 42-of-43 shots as the Raiders (31-19-5) edged Lethbridge (25-24-9) for their first win in three outings.

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Blades 4 Broncos 1

At Swift Current, Sask., Darren Dietz scored twice and added an assist and Andrey Makarov made 39 saves as Saskatoon (30-21-3) defeated the Broncos (31-21-2) for its seventh win in a row.

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Oil Kings 6 Wheat Kings 2

At Brandon, Man., Curtis Lazar scored twice and Dylan Wruck had a goal and two assists as Edmonton (41-11-5) extended its win streak to 11 games by downing the Wheat Kings (20-32-4), who sit last in the Eastern Conference.

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Ice 4 Chiefs 1

At Cranbrook, B.C., Mackenzie Skapksi stopped 31 shots and Austin Vetterl had a goal and an assist as Kootenay (25-27-2) defeated Spokane (31-21-2), which has won just three of its last 11 contests.

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Tigers 4 Warriors 1

At Medicine Hat, Alta., Miles Koules scored twice and Cam Lanigan stopped 38 shots as the Tigers (26-26-3) downed Moose Jaw (18-28-9), which now trails Medicine Hat by 10 points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

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Cougars 6 Giants 4

At Prince George, B.C., Jari Erricson scored two goals and Caleb Belter had a goal and an assist as the Cougars (17-30-8) came from behind to defeat Vancouver (13-41-0), which has just two wins in its last 11 games.

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Royals 5 Americans 3

At Kennewick, Wash., Brandon Magee scored twice and Patrik Polovka stopped 32 shots as Victoria (31-19-4) won its fourth game in a row by defeating the Americans (31-20-3), who lost for the first time in four contests.

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Hitmen 5 Silvertips 1

At Everett, Wash., Pavlo Padakin had a goal and two assists and Jake Virtanen scored two goals as Calgary (35-16-4) handed the Silvertips (21-30-5) their sixth straight loss.

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Rebels 6 Thunderbirds 3

At Kent, Wash., Rhyse Dieno scored three times and Patrik Bartosak turned away 47-of-50 shots as Red Deer (29-21-6) doubled up Seattle (19-32-5), which is winless in five games.