Sports

The Kelowna Rockets needed to play more than 60 minutes in order to earn a sweep of their home-and-home set with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Just 24 hours after pounding the T-Birds into submission 8-0 the Rockets needed a late equalizer and an overtime goal from Tyson Baillie to edge Seattle 4-3 in the Washington city.

Trailing 3-2 late in regulation time Zach Franko netted his 20th goal of the season at 17:33 to force overtime.

Baillie's 16th on just the second Rockets shot of overtime at 3:38 won it.

The goal came after the Rockets were forced to kill off a penalty for the first 1:07 of overtime while Cole Martin served a tripping penalty taken in the final minute of regulation time.

Ryan Olsen (24th) and Dylen McKinlay (18th) shorthanded also scored for the Rockets.

Jackson Whistle, making his first start since a 4-3 overtime loss in Vancouver two weeks ago, allowed three goals on the first 10 shots he faced before settling down to stop the final 20 shots he faced including four in the extra period.

The win was the 10th of the season for the 17-year-old Whistle who won just once all last year while with the Vancouver Giants.

The Rockets ran into penalty trouble throughout the contest handing the T-Birds seven power-play opportunities. Seattle managed just one goal while holding the Rockets off the board on their two opportunities with the man advantage.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Rockets who have yet to lose in regulation time (13-0-1-0) since the Christmas break.

They remain four points in back of league leading Portland and six up on Kamloops atop the BC Division.

The Rockets return home to play their third game in as many nights Saturday when they host the Prince Albert Raiders.

Kelowna will be looking for its 21st straight win on home ice Saturday which would tie Estevan, Flin Flon and Kamloops for the fourth longest streak in league history.