PORTLAND — The sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Rockets got themselves back in the win column thanks to a 4-2 victory on Wednesday over the Portland Winterhawks at the Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Rockets got goals from four different scorers as Andrew Cristall, Hiroki Gojsic, Michael Cicek and Kalder Varga all scored while goaltender Rhett Stoesser was outstanding on the evening, making 42 saves on 44 shots to earn his first win as a Rocket.
The win earned Rockets Assistant Coach Derrick Martin his first career Western Hockey League win as he was manning the bench while head coach Kris Mallette is away at the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge in Ontario.
Following a scoreless first period, Cristall would grab his 14th goal of the season to extend his point streak to 13 games, doing so just 41 seconds into the period to give sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ a 1-0 lead. Portland would tie the game on the power play when Josh Zakreski beat
Stoesser to tie the game at one. Hiroki Gojsic would regain sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ one goal advantage as Michael Cicek did some great work down low, finding Gojsic in front of the net for his sixth of the campaign.
The Rockets would once again run into some penalty troubles as Zakreski would score his 12th of the season and second on the power play to once again bring us to even footing. The tie however, would last for less than two minutes when Cicek scored to put sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in front for good.
Kalder Varga scored in the third period when he powered a shot past Portlandsa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ goaltender Ondrej Stebetak f.
The Rockets were in Portland Friday night. The game was still in progress as our press deadline. For game details visit: .
The Rockets are home tonight to Regina Pats beginning at 6:05 p.m.
