Rockets earn club record tying win

The Kelowna Rockets equalled a team record Saturday - a record they set just a season ago.

Kelowna won its 52nd game of the season Saturday with a gritty 3-1 win in Vancouver.

It was the Rockets fourth game in five nights - a span which saw them go from Kelowna to Tri-City, WA, back to Kelowna and Vancouver in a span of 96 hours.

"In the first period we played like a team that was out of gas," assistant coach Dan Lambert stated during the radio post game show.

Once the Rockets got a couple of goals early in the second period Lambert says the team settled down and locked it down in the third period.

The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the opening period on Cain Franson's 28th goal of the season.

That's the puck that would beat Jordon Cooke on the night.

Rourke Chartier tied it five minutes into the second then former Giant Marek Tvrdon put the Rockets ahead a minute later on a power-play.

Tvrdon's 10th of the season turned out to be the game winner.

Cole Linaker also scored his 10th of the season midway through the third to seal the victory.

Cooke turned aside 32 shots to earn his 36th win of the season.

The Rockets win moved them nine points clear of the Portland Winterhawks in the race for top spot in the overall WHL standings after the Portland lost 4-1 in Seattle.

The loss snapped the Winterhawks 21 game winning streak and reduced the Rockets magic number to clinch the WHL regular season title to three.

Both teams have seven games remaining in the regular season.

Kelowna play in Everett Tuesday night before returning home to host Spokane Wednesday and Tri-City on Saturday.