Kelowna Rockets netminder Jari Kykkanen proved to be too hard for the Cougars to solve as the Cougars fell 3-2 to the Rockets in the shootout Saturday night before 3,353 fans at CN Centre.
Kykkanen made 35 saves on 37 shots, including a Terik Parascak penalty shot.
Jari Kykkanen says no! https://t.co/LVycYfGsAG pic.twitter.com/GljUMSZf4s
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) January 14, 2024
“He did his job, he made a lot of good saves, we had some traffic, we threw a lot at him, I just thought our powerplay at the end, we didn’t get enough shots, I don’t even think we got a chance on it, we were really tentative,” said Cougars Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb on last night’s Post-Game show on 94.3 the Goat.
The Cougars took the man advantage into overtime, and had five shots in the extra frame, but couldn’t get one past Kykkanen.
We are headed to whoavertime.
Stick taps to Jari Kykkanen for standing large all night. pic.twitter.com/6Fs5mLtk2Q
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) January 14, 2024
Kykkanen made saves on all three Cougar shooters in the shootout. (Valis, Becher, and Funk)
Rockets Captain Gabriel Szturc put the eventual shootout winner past Josh Ravensbergen, while Andrew Cristall missed his attempt.
The game got off to a feisty start with a pair of first period fights between Hudson Thornton and Trae Johnson, and Zac Funk and Carter Kowalyk.
Max Graham opened the scoring for the Rockets, scoring the game’s first goal 4:29 into the first.
Caden Price extended the Rockets lead 3:46 into the second period.
idk what to say… nice shot I guess https://t.co/t8SVSUKmIC pic.twitter.com/VCj5WbJtjt
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 14, 2024
The Cougars clawed back in the middle frame with a pair of goals from Ondrej Becher and Parascak late in the period.
idk what to say… nice shot I guess https://t.co/t8SVSUKmIC pic.twitter.com/VCj5WbJtjt
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 14, 2024
nice goal but terrible celly from the platypus https://t.co/45zfxI0k9C pic.twitter.com/q96Xus4ekt
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 14, 2024
Ravensbergen made 21 saves for the Cougars.
The full box score can be found here.
The Cougars (29-12-0-1) remain on top of the WHL’s Western Conference Standings.
The full WHL standings can be found here.
The Cougars will be back on home ice Friday to start a weekend doubleheader against the Portland Winterhawks. (26-14-1-2)
The full Cougars schedule can be found here.
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