Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds meet yet again in a post season series

Photo: Wayne Moore/file

Rockets eliminated Seattle in seven game thriller in 2013.

The Kelowna Rockets now know the identity of their first round playoff opponent.

The Rockets will face the Western Conference winning Seattle Thunderbirds in the opening round of the playoffs. The matchup was sealed Tuesday when the Vancouver Giants edged Portland 3-2, officially closing the door on any chance the Rockets had of catching the seventh place Giants.

This will be the 10th time the Rockets and T-Birds have met in post season play since the Rockets relocated from Tacoma 28 years ago.

Seattle has won five of the previous nine playoff meetings including the last three in a row.

They last faced each other last spring with the T-Birds winning in five en route to a Western Conference championship.

The most memorable meeting was 2013 when the Rockets came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Seattle in seven on Tyson Baillie's overtime winner.

The first round series between the Rockets and T-Birds opens in Seattle Friday and Saturday March 31 and April 1. Games three and four are back at Prospera Place Tuesday and Wednesday, April 4 and 5.

Single game tickets for the games back in Kelowna are available at Select Your Tickets online or at the Prospera Place box office.

The Rockets will close out the regular season this weekend with back-to-back games with the Giants Friday in Langley and Saturday back at Prospera Place.