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Third time’s the charm: Shorthanded Cougars blast off against Rockets

Despite being down four forwards, the Prince George Cougars came up with their grittiest effort of the season.

Connor Bowie and Koehn Ziemmer each potted their seventh of the shortened campaign in a 2-1 win against the Kelowna Rockets Tuesday at Prospera Place.

Ziemmer opened the scoring at the 7:08 mark of the opening period coming off the far half wall, backhanding a floating puck past Rockets netminder Cole Schwebius for a 1-0 lead.

In the second, the Cougars continued their patient yet aggressive approach on the forecheck as Bowie cashed in on the penalty kill, taking full advantage of a 2-on-1 rush.

Even with the offensive success, veteran goaltender Taylor Gauthier came up huge once again stopping 29 Kelowna shots – 21 of those occurred over the final two periods.

However, his shutout bid was shattered at the 15:38 mark of the third period when Mark Liwiski turned and fired a wobbly puck through the armpit of Gauthier to draw the Rockets within one.

Kelowna went 0-for-5 on the power-play while PG failed to score on three opportunities.

The Cats dressed all eight of their defencemen due to the absence of Ethan Browne (injured), Kyren Gronick (injured) and Brendan Boyle (injured).

Jonny Hooker also missed the contest as he served the third of his four-game ban in relation to his open ice hit on star Kamloops Blazer forward Connor Zary who has not played since.

PG improves to 8-7-2-1, one point back of the Vancouver Giants for second place in the BC Division.

The Cougars are 4-0-1 in their last five games.

Both teams will renew hostilities tonight (Wednesday) in Kamloops at 7:00pm from Sandman Centre.

PG has won three out of five meetings against Vancouver this season.

You can catch the action on 94.3 the Goat with Fraser Rodgers.

Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Brendan Pawliw
Brendan Pawliw
Since moving to Prince George in 2015, Brendan has covered local sports including the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Prince George Spruce Kings, UNBC Timberwolves, Cariboo Cougars AAA, and Northern Capitals U18 female hockey teams. Career highlights include play-by-play during the Spruce Kings' BCHL championship runs in 2018 and 2019, including the Doyle Cup win. He also covered the 2019 National Junior A Championship, the 2017 Telus Cup, the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship, and the 2022 BC Summer Games. Brendan is the news voice on 94.3 The Goat and Country 97 FM, reporting on crime, real estate, labour, and environmental issues. Outside of work, he officiates box lacrosse and fastball, sits on the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame board, and co-hosts the Hockey North podcast.

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