Thursday night in Kelowna, the Prince George Cougars were defeated 5-2 by the Kelowna Rockets. Damon Severson paced Kelowna with a goal and an assist while Zach Pochiro resounded with a goal and a helper for Prince George. The Cougars at one point led 2-0, but a late Rockets goal in the first helped turn the tide back in their favor.

Zach Pochiro got the Cougars on the board with a goal at 13:05 of the first. Michael Mylchreest made a great play at the blueline to keep the puck in the Kelowna zone. From there, the puck wound up in front of Kelowna’s goal, and Zach Pochiro put home a Klarc Wilson rebound for his 16^th of the season.

Colin Jacobs then made it 2-0 on a power play at 17:22. Zach Pochiro’s point shot switched directions, and Colin Jacobs was able to sneak a backhand shot past the right pad of Jordan Cooke for his team-leading 25^th goal.

With just 49 seconds remaining in the period Kelowna responded with a goal that ultimately turned the tide on the entire game. Colton Sissons was able to slip between two Cougars defenders and bury his 27^th of the season to pull the Rockets within one. Myles Bell and Dylan McKinlay assisted on the goal. Kelowna would ride that momentum into the second period.

After holding the Cougars to just two shots through the first half of the second, Kelowna tied the score at 12:22 when Damon Severson took a Myles Bell pass in the slot and out-waited Brett Zarowny for his ninth goal of the season.

For a second time in the game, Kelowna scored a goal in the final minute of a period. This time it was Zach Franko who snuck into the slot, and converted a nice Damon Severson pass for his 22^nd of the season. Franko’s goal came with just six seconds remaining in the second period.

Early in the third the Cougars had a great chance to tie the game, but Jordan Cooke robbed Zach Pochiro on a wrap-around attempt.

JT Barnett then provided Kelowna with some insurance off a two-on-one rush with Austin Glover. Glover forced a turnover at the Kelowna blueline and found Barnett on the left wing to make it 4-2.

The game’s final goal was scored at 17:08 off the stick of Henrik Nyberg.

Kelowna outshot the Cougars 25-20 but finished zero-for-one on the power play. The Cougars were one-for-two on their power play chances. Thanks to a goal and two assists, Cougars forward Zach Pochiro extended his point streak to three games. Over the past three games, Pochiro has seven points.

With the loss, the Cougars move to 2-3 on their current six-game road trip, and tomorrow night they’ll wrap it up with a game in Kamloops.

The Cougars are still mathematically alive in the race for eighth place in the Western Conference playoffs, but will need a lot of help in order to get there. With just two games remaining in their season, the Cougars will have to win both of them and hope that the Everett Silvertips lose all three of their final games in regulation time.