Rockets end losing streak in Portland

• I didn't expect that, did you? Sure, a Kelowna Rockets victory, but not by four goals. Shane McColgan scored three times and collected an assist on Zak Stebner's goal in a 5-1 win in game one of a best of seven Western Conference semi final series. The win snapped a six game losing streak in Portland dating back to the 2008 season. The Rockets remain perfect in the post season at 5 and 0 while the Hawks are now 4 and 1.
  
• McColgan's second goal of the game was a beauty. After receiving a pass, the 17 year-old skated inside the Hawks blue line and hammered a slap shot high over Mac Carruth's blocker side to make it a 3-1 game. That goal came late in the second period when the fans at the Rose Garden were still yelling at the officials for what they interpreted was a missed high sticking call.
• The non-call was actually the correct one. Rockets defenceman Zak Stebner hits Hawks forward Brendan Leipsic with his stick after following through on a clearing attempt. The WHL rule states that it is not a penalty, yet at the NHL level losing control of your stick no matter what the circumstance is indeed an infraction.
  
• A sure sign that emotions were running high was when Rockets forward Mitchell Callahan was jousting with Hawks forward Riley Boychuk before the puck was even dropped. My belief is the Rockets won't be intimidated in this series even though the Hawks are statistically a bigger team.
  
• I was a little surprised at the Hawks blunders in their own zone. The d-core gave up the puck on several occasional resulting in several quality chances. While the Hawks generated 46 shots towards Adam Brown, they also gave up 32 against.
  
• The Rockets essentially had three breakaway chances with two of them coming from Evan Bloodoff. Bloodoff and McColgan each scored once on those clear paths towards the Hawks goal.
  
• Nothing against Shane McColgan, but Adam Brown was the best player on the ice. The 19 year-old clearly outplayed Mac Carruth in the Hawks goal. Brown made timely saves while Carruth made untimely errors that cost his team dearly. I honestly can't remember one big stop Carruth made in game one.
  
• Rockets forward Zach Franko left the game after he received a hit from Hawks forward Brad Ross. Ross came out of the penalty box and landed a hard hit on Franko. The 17 year-old went for stitches to his lip and never returned. Ross received a game misconduct for charging and will likely be suspended.
• Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen both ended the game with -3 ratings. It was an off night for the dynamic duo who have more good games than bad ones.
• Game two is Sunday, again at the Rose Garden.