After selling off Cayden Price, Andrew Cristall and telling head coach Kris Mallette to hit the road, no one would have blamed the Kelowna Rockets for being a little vulnerable.
Unfortunately for the Prince George Cougars, their BC Division rivals from the Okanagan didn’t show any fragility Friday night.
A five-point night from Jakub Stancl, which included a hat-trick, allowed the Rockets to blast past the Cougars by a 6-3 score in front of 4,417 fans at Prospera Place.
Down 3-2 with roughly 90 seconds left in the second period, Stancl, a St. Louis Blues prospect, notched his second of the game from Kalder Varga and Max Graham to put the hosts on even terms heading into the final 20 minutes.
The roof caved in on the Cougars within the opening minute of the third period as newly acquired defenceman Will Sharpe put the Rockets up 4-3.
Sharpe was one of the main assets Kelowna received in return for Price who was dealt to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Monday.
Sharp(e) shooter. 🎯 Will Sharpe’s first goal as a member of the Rockets was better than Bret Hart’s wrestling move pic.twitter.com/cYEvvfGDyj
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) January 11, 2025
That was followed up a mere 11 seconds later by a great individual effort from Dawson Gerwing who found his way to the Rockets via the Swift Current Broncos in the Martin Rocak deal.
Stancl ended the offensive onslaught at 12:36 of the third, completing his hat-trick performance.
Jakub Stancl met with the media following his three goal, five point performance tonight against the Cougars. pic.twitter.com/qV1rksmCqB
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) January 11, 2025
Surprisingly, Prince George actually held a two-goal lead during the first period.
Aiden Foster and Ben Riche opened the scoring for the Cougars in the opening seven minutes.
So Ben Riche is FAST fast 😵@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/Zp96QYOW1A pic.twitter.com/urbklkaJmA
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 11, 2025
Aiden 𝙵̶𝚘̶𝚜̶𝚝̶𝚎̶𝚛̶ Faster, 21 seconds in!#NHLDraft . @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/YPLrZNB8pr pic.twitter.com/iK3usVyfDP
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 11, 2025
Graham, who ended the contest with a goal and three assists put Kelowna on the board at the 17:40 mark.
Stancl evened the score at 2-2 via Gerwing and blueliner Jackson Gillespie.
The Cougars restored their edge to 3-2 after a great individual effort from Kayden Lemire.
Kelowna outshot PG 38-35 while also going 1-for-6 on the power-play. The Rockets were 0-for-2.
Cooper Michaluk took the loss in net for the Cougars making 32 saves on 38 shots. Jake Pilon collected the win for the 2026 Memorial Cup host Rockets also turning aside 32 pucks.
The game saw its fair share of rough stuff starting at 8:21 of the second period where Cougars defenceman Corbin Vaughan dropped the mitts with Graham – Vaughan was also dinged with an additional unsportsmanlike conduct infraction.
Foster and Nate Corbet (Kelowna) were each assessed 10-minute misconducts while Viliam Kmec (PG) and Kanjyu Gojsic (Rockets) received five minutes for fighting at 17:08 of the third.
Cougars over ager Borya Valis and Gerwing (Rockets) were given 10-minute misconducts and coincidental roughing penalties with nine seconds remaining.
PG drops to 24-11-3-2 on the season, two points up on the Victoria Royals (22-11-3-4) for the BC Division lead.
Victoria escaped Wenatchee with a 5-2 win over the Wild Friday night.
The Cougars are back in action tonight (Saturday) in Kamloops against the Blazers (14-21-3-0).
Friday’s loss to Kelowna also marked the PG debut of 19-year-old defenceman Aleksay Chichkin, who was acquired from the Regina Pats this week.
Cole Peardon, an 18-year-old forward who the Cougars traded for from the Red Deer Rebels on Thursday did not dress.
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