Cougars empty-net blunder comes back to bite them in loss to Kelowna

It’s not often a team takes a win away from themselves, but in the case of the Prince George Cougars that’s exactly what happened.

Kayden Longley and Tomas Poletin scored twice in the final minute to stun the Cougars, stealing a <em>5-4 victory on Wednesday in front of 3,196 fans at CN Centre.

The hockey gods punished the Cougars dearly after Terik Parascak who had the game on his stick staring at an empty Kelowna net elected to pass to Kayden Lemire who had the puck bounce off his stick and into the corner.

With goaltender Josh Banini pulled, Longley notched his second of the game on a scramble play that beat Cougars netminder Josh Ravensbergen.

Then on a set play with seven seconds remaining, Poletin, a New York Islanders prospect, fired a slapshot off a faceoff win that Ravensbergen had no chance of stopping.

The eventful third period actually started off on the right foot for the Cougars as a Bauer Dumanski point shot found the blade of Aiden Foster who was parked at the top of the opposing team’s blue paint, converting on the deflection to make it 3-2 Cougars.

Riley Ashe put the Cougars up by a deuce after storming out of the penalty box, accepting a Parascak stretch pass going blocker side on Banini for a 4-2 edge.

The furious Rockets comeback spoiled a stellar special teams’ night for the Cougars who went 8-for-8 on the penalty kill while also going 3-for-5 on the power-play.

PG came out of the gate like gangbusters once swarming the Memorial Cup hosts inside their defensive zone recording the game’s first five shots.

Kooper Gizowski put the Cougars on the board at 10:53 of the first period after draft-eligible defenceman Carson Carels neatly set the table for the over ager to one-time over the shoulder of Banini for a 1-0 lead.

Even though we are barely a week into October, the bad blood among the longtime B.C. Division rivals started to spill in the first period.

The first sign of the rough stuff came six minutes later as Kelowna defenceman Rowan Guest knocked rookie Cougars blueliner Eli Johnson to his knees negating a promising puck rush, only to be encountered by Patrick Sopiarz with both players chucking the knuckles.

Both teams decided to the turn the game into a track meet once the puck was dropped to begin period two.

A Dmitri Yakutsenak turnover inside the Rockets zone on a power-play led to a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush.

Carson Wetsch chugged up the ice and found Kayden Longley who fired a shot past an outstretched Ravensbergen.

Twenty-seven seconds later, Jett Lajoie accepted a Foster feed, firing a vicious forehand smash past Banini for a 2-1 Cougars edge.

Prince George’s loose structure inside their blueline would cost them once more as a Poletin cross-ice pass found Nashville Predators prospect Hiroki Goisjic who blew a wrister over the shoulder of Ravensbergen to draw even at 2-2.

The grittiness reared its ugly head again as a collision in Cougars territory drew Rockets defenceman Mazden Leslie and Foster together, resulting in coincidental penalties.

Then, a meeting of the minds occurred in front of the Cougars bench leading to more rough stuff.

Rockets blueliner Nate Corbet was right in the middle of it, fighting with Lajoie.

PG would receive a power-play out of it as the refs handed Corbet and unsportsmanlike conduct minor for his hell-raising behaviour.

Prince George outshot the Rockets 35-32. Banini battled his way to a 31-save effort.

He was acquired prior to opening night from the Moose Jaw Warriors for draft picks.

Ravensbergen made 27 saves in defeat. Wetsch finished the contest with three assists for the Rockets who improve to 3-1-0-0.

Longley chipped in with two goals and one helper.

Connor Pankratz earned a single for Kelowna, trimming the deficit to 4-3 after PG got caught flatfooted off the faceoff and powered to the net at 8:59 of the third.

Brock Souch continued his hot start to the season for the Cougars in a losing cause, recording a pair of assists.

The 19-year-old, who is a commit to St. Cloud State has nine points in five games.

The Cougars (4-1-0-0) continue their homestand with Community Heroes Weekend Saturday (6pm) and Sunday (2pm) when they welcome the Tri-City Americans (1-4-0-0).