Sunday night in Vancouver, the Prince George Cougars dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the Vancouver Giants. Brett Roulston and Jari Erricson scored 28 seconds apart late in the third to force the 3-3 tie, but the Giants eventually prevailed in the seven-round shootout to grab the second point.

Prince George opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game when Alex Forsberg flipped a Dan Gibb rebound past Giants goalie Payton Lee. For Forsberg it was his fifth of the season, with Caleb Belter and Dan Gibb assisting.

Vancouver evened the score at one when Taylor Vickerman tucked home a Mason Geersten rebound for his first of the 2012-2013 season.

Late in the first, the Giants were then given a full five-on-three power play, and wasted little time in making it count. Trevor Cheek took an Anthony Ast pass in the slot, and buried his seventh past Mac Engel to give the Giants a 2-1 cushion.

Early in the second, the Giants grabbed a two-goal lead when Riley Kieser raced down the left-wing side and fired a shot under the left arm of Mac Engel for his second of the season. That goal game right as a Vancouver penalty had expired.

Mid-way through the second period, the Cougars started gaining some momentum. They were given a series of power plays, and although they didn’t score, they certainly came close on a number of occasions. The second period ended with the Cougars holding a 21-13 lead in the shots department.

More of the same from Prince George in the third. They continued to apply pressure on Giants goaltender Payton Lee, but the 16-year-old kept the door shut, and with less than five minutes to go, the Cougars appeared destined for their fourth consecutive regulation loss.

Brett Roulston had other ideas though, and when he took a pass from Jari Erricson in the slot, he made absolutely no mistake for his fifth goal of the season.

28 seconds later, the Cougars tied it when Jari Erricson grabbed his own rebound, and banked it in off the right skate of Payton Lee for his fifth. Finally the Cougars were rewarded for their efforts offensively, and they managed to clinch the single point.

Overtime solved nothing which meant the fourth shootout of the season for Prince George. Mac Engel stopped Trevor Cheek on the first Vancouver attempt, and Caleb Belter followed with a goal to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

Jackson Houck and Zach Pochiro swapped goals, which put the game in the hands of Giants forward Kale Kessy. Kessy scored on his attempt to tie the shootout at two.

After three rounds of misses, the Giants took the shootout lead when Carter Popoff beat Mac Engel on a backhand. Jari Erricson was denied on his opportunity and the Giants escaped with their sixth victory of the season.

The Cougars record now sits at 7-10-1-2, and they’ll head home with a five point lead on the Giants for fourth place in the B.C. Division. The single point also moves the Cougars a point ahead of Everett and into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference.

After three games in three nights this weekend, the Cougars will head home and wait for a Friday night showdown with the 2013 Memorial Cup Hosts, the Saskatoon Blades.