Saturday night in Spokane, the Prince George Cougars dropped a heartbreaker to the Spokane Chiefs. 3-2 was the final score, with Spokane’s Dylan Walchuk scoring the game winner with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation time.

Spokane grabbed the game’s first goal at 8:54 with just a few seconds remaining on a power play. Jason Fram found Mike Aviani waiting at the side of the goal, and Aviani was able to settle the puck and slide it past Mac Engel for his sixth of the season.

Tyler King then made it 2-0 on a power play when his low shot from the left point found it’s way through a couple of sprawling Cougars defenders and past the goaltender. Spokane outshot the Cougars 14-1 in the first period, and had control through 20 minutes.

The start of the second period was better for the Cougars who took the body early on, and had three quick shots on rookie goaltender Garret Hughson who was making his WHL debut.

Persistence paid off for the Cougars who would end up with a couple of power plays themselves in the late stages of the second, and they took full advantage.

First it was Colin Jacobs who converted on a five-on-three power play opportunity. Jacobs one-timed a pass home from Alex Forsberg from the right point for his eighth goal of the season to make it 2-1.

One minute and 12 seconds later, the Cougars struck again when Jari Erricson skated across the blueline and fired a slap shot past Garret Hughson for his third of the season. Erricson’s power play marker tied the score at two. The Cougars outshot the Chiefs 11-7 in the second.

The third period saw both teams miss on some power play chances, and goaltender Mac Engel was busy, stopping 16 straight shots. One of Engel’s best saves came off a Spokane power play when he robbed Brenden Kichton from point-blank range. Engel’s entire game was strong for the Cougars as he turned aside 35 of the 38 shots he faced.

Spokane’s final goal came in the final minute, when Connor Chartier centered a puck in front of the Cougars goal, and Dylan Walchuk was able to elude a couple of checks, and slide the puck through Mac Engel to secure the game winner.

Spokane outshot the Cougars 38-16, including a 17-4 advantage in the third. Both teams ended up two-for-four on their power play chances.

With the loss, the Cougars record now sits at 5-6-1-0, while Spokane’s record improves to 7-3-0-0.

Both of these teams will now head to Prince George, and will take the ice against each other again on Tuesday at CN Centre.