The Kelowna Rockets fell 5-4 to the Canadian Hockey League's number-one-ranked team, the Winnipeg ICE, on Saturday night at Prospera Place.
Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie posted two goals, including the game-winner. ICE goaltender Daniel Hauser remains perfect on the season, making 33 saves on 37 shots to pick up his ninth win of the season.
Kelowna battled back to tie the game with 30 seconds to play, but Winnipeg charged back seven seconds later to score the game-winning goal.
"It's a team you can't fall asleep on for a second," said Rockets assistant coach Quintin Laing in the post-game media availability.
"A few plays we let our guard down and they capitalized, they're one of the best teams in junior hockey for a reason. You've gotta keep your focus, you gotta have your deals and you can't give up for five seconds or else they're going to bite you. Tonight we let our guard down for a little bit and it bit us."
The Rockets were without veteran defenceman Elias Carmichael, playing with five defencemen and thirteen forwards.
"It was a big ask, four of those d played a lot of minutes. Having Carmichael out hurts, but that's an opportunity for guys to play more minutes and step up. Hats off to them, I thought they worked extremely hard tonight."
Kelowna's off until next weekend when they'll head to Portland for a pair of games against the Winterhawks on Friday and Saturday.
The next Rockets home game is Saturday, November 5th when the Kamloops Blazers will visit Prospera Place for the first time this regular season.