The +/- of a 5-2 loss to the Blazers

The Positives:

1) The Rockets' out-shot the Blazers by firing 37 pucks on net. Sure, five power plays in the third period contribute to that total, but sending pucks towards the net and forcing Blazers goaltender Cole Cheveldave to make quality saves was a positive.
2) Zach Franko ends up with one assist and a -1 rating at the end of the night, but the 18 year-old may have put in his best effort of the season. Franko was skating, competing and being a difference maker. I saw the Franko of old in the third period when he peeled back into his own end with the puck, began to skating forward and quickly moved away from two Blazers attempting to steal the puck off his stick. If you are Zach Franko, you want the puck and will do everything in your power to keep it when someone attempts to take it away from you.
3) Maybe it was just me, but the Rockets overall play in the first half of the game looked less fractured that normal. The passing was visibly better, crisper if you want to put it that way, and they looked more composed in their own zone.
4) Down 2-0, the Rockets' could have shut down the mill, but they didn't, getting a greasy goal from Tyrell Goulbourne to make it a 2-1 game. For close to 35 minutes the Rockets' were in this game until Chase Schaber's goal to make it 3-1.
5) Jordon Cooke came into the game in a relief appearance and looked steady. Facing only six shots, Cooke still looked composed and didn't let the score become laughable.
6) Discipline. It was great. The Rockets took only four minor penalties all night, but in the saying that, the Blazers scored on two of their four power play chances.

The negatives:

1) Chase Schaber's 3-1 goal was the killer. You can point to the power play goal the Blazers scored just 1:25 after that goal to make it 4-1, but Schaber's ability to beat Rockets rookie Tanner Moar to the net was costly. Moar needs to do everything in his power to either out muscle the Kamloops captain or in a worst case scenario haul him down. It wouldn't have been a bad penalty to take. Lesson learned.
2) I am not sure what happened on the Blazers second goal where Brendan Ranford takes a shot from the right face-off circle that beats Adam Brown high to the glove hand side. Either Brown lost sight of the puck and didn't know Ranford had it on his stick or he was playing a pass, which Ranford never made. The 2-0 goal looked like a save Brown would normally make with ease.
3) The Blazers 4-1 goal was as pretty as they come. When you can go dot-to-dot with a pass that is one-timed into the net by Dylan Willick, that precision passing play is not only pretty to watch, it takes the air out of the tires of the team that just surrendered the goal.
4) The power play has to be better. With eight chances, scoring just one goal won't cut it. Five of those extra man advantages were awarded in the third period alone. Allowing a shorthanded goal made for a tough night for the 'specialty teams' which were anything but special.