The Prince George Cougars ended their five game road trip with a 3-2 record after losing an 80’s style shootout by an 8-6 score in Kelowna tonight (Wednesday).
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) November 10, 2022
The Rockets opened the scoring early in the first period with a goal from Chicago Blackhawks second-round pick Colton Dach, then doubled their early lead at 14:05 when Gabriel Szturc scored his seventh of the year.
Chase Wheatcroft would put the Cougars within one at 17:07 on a powerplay tic-tac-toe goal, his 100th career WHL point.
We have a @cibc milestone! Chase Wheatcroft has 100 points in @TheWHL, and 6 goals in his last 4 games! https://t.co/dvc43F9jj4 pic.twitter.com/eg1QqxLH0v
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) November 10, 2022
2-1 after one.
The Rockets then struck shorthanded in the second period to restore their two-goal lead at 8:43, 3-1 game.
Koehn Ziemmer fired home his 14th goal in 17 games from Heidt and Thornton at 11:27.
Not long after, Chase Wheatcroft would strike again and give the cats a shorthanded marker of their own.
SPOLIER WARNING: WHL Goal of the week ahead ❗️❗️ https://t.co/YgWFoC61og pic.twitter.com/gT9DvzA5rh
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) November 10, 2022
After trailing by two, the Cougars had tied the game 3-3 at 16:11 of the second period.
Kelowna’s Adam Kydd would start what would become the start of a disappointing storyline for the Cats, and restored Kelowna’s lead under a minute later at 17:10 of the second.
4-3 Kelowna after two.
The game came completely unglued in the third period.
Caden Price beat Tyler Brennan at 6:50, for the third time Kelowna had a two goal lead.
Once again, the Cougars showed no quit, and quick goals from newcomer 20-year-old Cole Dubinsky and Koehn Ziemmer’s second game-tying goal brought things to 5-5 with 10:14 on the clock.
Under three minutes later, Kelowna had the lead yet again when Adam Kydd completed his hat trick at 12:57 on the powerplay.
A minute and a half later, Noah Boyko beat Talyn Boyko with an odd shot that took a weird bounce – tie game again, 6-6.
This game is absolutely out of control 😂
Boyko beats Boyko, we are back to a tie, 6-6!
Assisted by Thornton and Dubinsky at 14:29 pic.twitter.com/ELgUJC3yUM
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) November 10, 2022
Rilen Kovacevic restored Kelowna’s lead for the fourth time in the game a little over two minutes later at 16:44.
Koehn Ziemmer almost did it again with his own hat trick goal – having the puck bounce off his stick just wide of an open cage in the final minutes of the game, to see then Kelowna put it out of reach into the empty net at 18:39.
The seven goal third period saw both teams double their scores, as Kelowna left with two points and an 8-6 victory.
Safe to say, this will not be a game that either coaching staff will be very happy about.
Cougars Stats
Koehn Ziemmer had two goals and an assist, in his now nine game point streak he has 10 goals and seven assists and has 29 points in 17 games this season.
He is alone in second place in league scoring, only trailing Connor Bedard. He also is tied for the league lead in goals and is second in powerplay goals (6).
Scoring career points 100, 101, and 102, Chase Wheatcroft also had two goals and an assist. He has seven goals in his last four games.
Riley Heidt had four assists in the game, he has eight points in his last three games and is sitting seventh overall in WHL scoring with 24 total points in 17 games played.
He is tied for third in the league in assists, alongside teammate Hudson Thornton, with 17.
Thornton’s point also streak extended to eight games, and two assists tonight gives him four consecutive two-point games.
The final shots were an even 28-28.
The Cougars special teams struggled – the powerplay was 1/7 and allowed a shorthanded goal, and they were 2/4 killing penalties, though they did score a shorthanded goal of their own.
Tyler Brennan played the full game and made 20 saves on 27 shots faced.
Prince George’s record falls to 9-8-0-0, while Kelowna improves to 6-7-1-0.
Kamloops (7-4-2-1) lost to Seattle (11-3-0-0) 2-1 in overtime tonight, so the Cougars remain in first place in the BC division by a single point – however Kamloops has played three fewer games.
The Cougars are in action on Saturday (6:00) and Sunday (2:00) at home against the Vancouver Giants (6-7-2-2).
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