Friday night in Kamloops, the Prince George Cougars dropped a 3-0 decision to the Blazers. Cole Cheveldave stopped all 23 shots he faced in goal while Marek Hrbas, Colin Smith and Joel Edmundson all scored for Kamloops.

The first period was loaded with penalties, which really affected the pace of the game early on. After killing off an early penalty, the Prince George Cougars were given a five-minute major power play when Aspen Sterzer was penalized for a hit to the head of Joseph Carvalho.  Unfortunately for the Cougars their power play was short-lived as they were soon penalized for too many men on the ice.

The Blazers scored the game’s first goal four-on-four when Brendan Ranford made a nifty move along the right-wing wall and cut in on Brett Zarowny. Ranford’s shot was stopped but the rebound popped right out to Marek Hrbas who made no mistake for his second of the season.

The Cougars were given a few more power play opportunities in the first period, but were unable to solve Cole Cheveldave. Both Cheveldave and Cougars netminder Brett Zarowny were solid in the first making some big saves late in the frame. The Cougars had a great chance in the final minute, but Carson Bolduc fired just wide on a nice backhand-to-forehand opportunity in front of the Kamloops goal.

Early in the second, the Cougars were given two more power play opportunities, but were unable to find the back of the net. The Cougars best chance of the game came early in the second when both Joseph Carvalho and Daulton Siwak were robbed by Cole Cheveldave from in close.

Late in the second, Kamloops went to their third power play and extended their lead when Colin Smith raced down the right wing and centered the puck in front of the Cougars goal. The puck deflected off a Cougar defenceman’s stick and past Brett Zarowny, and Smith was credited with his 23^rd goal of the season.

Kamloops outshot the Cougars 19-9 in the second period, and took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

Cougars head coach Dean Clark shuffled his forward lines heading into the third period, and though they had some strong early possession, the Cougars were unable to solve Cole Cheveldave.

Joel Edmundson would score the game’s final goal in the later stages of the third period when he one-timed home a pass from Chase Souto from the right wing circle.

The final shots on goal were 33-23 for Kamloops who earned their first regulation victory of the season against Prince George. The Cougars power play finished zero-for-five while their penalty-kill was three-for-four.

The Cougars (10-15-1-3) are back in action Saturday night in Kelowna. It’ll mark the fifth meeting of the season already between the Cougars and Rockets.