Saturday night in Prince George, the Prince George Cougars dropped a 4-1 decision to the Edmonton Oil Kings. It was the first loss of the preseason for the Prince George Cougars who kept the game tied at one until 13:38 of the third period. 

Troy Bourke scored the game’s first goal at 5:09 of the first period. The Oil Kings got caught on a bad change, and the Cougars game in three-on-one. Troy Bourke and Jari Erricson executed a perfect give-and-go and Bourke fired the puck past Tristan Jarry for his first of the preseason. 

Edmonton responded nearly three minutes later when Edgars Kulda put one past Devon Fordyce for his second of the preseason. Edmonton had the Cougars pinned in their own zone for awhile, and after three difficult saves by Devon Fordyce, the Oil Kings were able to capitalize at 8:01. 

Late in the first period, Devon Fordyce was tested further, but he made a huge stick save off of Cole Benson on a breakway to keep the game tied at one. The shots were 14-8 Oil Kings after 20 minutes. 

The second period did not have any goal scoring, but plenty in the way of action. Both Devon Fordyce and Tristan Jarry made some big saves to keep the game even, and things got heated towards the end of the second. 

The Cougars lost the services of both Rinalds Rosinskis (clipping and fighting) and Alex Forsberg (fighting) while Edmonton lost Ashton Sautner and Stephen Shmoorkoff for the remainder of the game. Edmonton had a 26-17 advantage in shots through 40 minutes. 

Play went back-and-forth through the first half of the third period with each goaltender continuing their strong play. Tristan Jarry made a marvelous save off of Jari Erricson to keep the game tied, and moments later the Oil Kings got a lucky break. 

Stephane Legault broke the 1-1 tie after an unfortunate miscue beside the Cougars goal. Legault’s first of the preseason gave Edmonton their first lead of the weekend. Klarc Wilson followed up with a goal off a rebound at 17:08 to make it 3-1 for the visitors. Wilson, Legault and Edgars Kulda all finished with two point games for Edmonton. 

The Cougars came on strong towards the end, but an empty-netter by Curtis Lazar sealed the deal and the Edmonton Oil Kings who earned their second victory of the preseason. 

The final shots on goal were 39-27 for the Edmonton Oil Kings and neither team was able to convert on the powerplay. Edmonton finished zero-for-three while the Cougars were zero-for-five. 

The Prince George Cougars will wrap up their preseason schedule on Friday, September 14^th in Kamloops against the Blazers.