Rockets drop second game to Cougars

The Prince George Cougars handed the Kelowna Rockets an 8-1 loss on Wednesday night at the CN Centre in Prince George, BC.

Entering the game, the BC division-leading Cougars led the WHL in goals with 32 through five games this season.

Jake Pilon made the start for the Rockets after Jari Kykkanen suffered an injury in the first period of Tuesday night's game against the Cougars. A status update on Kykkanen was not available at the time of this posting.

The Cougars peppered Pilon with 21 shots in the opening frame, but the game was tied at one through the opening twenty minutes. Prince George then broke free in the second period with five goals, including a pair of short-handed goals and another on the power play. The Cougars added another pair of goals in the final minute of the game.

In the end, Prince George outshot the Rockets 47-11.

GAME SUMMARY

Creating a screen in front of the Cougars net, Logan Peskett (1) redirected Ethan Mittelsteadt's shot past Vancouver Canucks prospect Ty Young. Terik Parascak (9) tied the game while on the power play.

The Cougars then exploded out of the gate in the second period. Parascak (10) found the back of the net for the second time in the game 1:29 into the period, thirty seconds later Hunter Laing (2), the son of Rockets assistant coach Quintin Laing, scored again for Prince George. Oren Shtrom (2) and Ondrej Becher (4) added back-to-back short-handed goals before Zac Funk (5) scored another power play goal for the Cougars.

Viliam Kmec (5) and Carlin Dezainde (3) scored in the final minutes of the third period.

ADDITIONAL STATS

• The Rockets record is now 1-2-1-0
• Kelowna was 0/3 on the powerplay, while Prince George was 3/6
• Pilon stopped 39 of the 47 shots fired on him
• The Cougars lead the eight-game season series 2-0, the two will face each other next on October 13 at Prospea Place

UP NEXT

The Rockets next home game is set for Saturday, October 7 at 7:05 p.m. when Michael Cicek will face his former team, the Spokane Chiefs, for the first time. Kelowna will then play the Victoria Royals on Thanksgiving Monday at 12:35 p.m.