Saturday night in Kelowna, the Prince George Cougars put forth a valiant effort against the Kelowna Rockets. But a 5:35 segment of the second period cost the Cougars, as they allowed three unanswered goals in what ultimately proved to be a 3-2 Kelowna victory. Chase Witala and Carson Bolduc scored for PG while Tyrell Goulbourne, Damon Severson and Tyson Baillie responded for the Rockets.

 Early in the first period, the Cougars were rewarded with a power play opportunity, and made the most of their chance. Chase Witala took a pass beside the Kelowna goal and lifted a shot over the shoulder of Jordan Cooke for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Witala has now scored six goals in his past six games, and has 11 points in that span.

Kelowna responded with a flurry of chances, but Ty Edmonds was up to the task. His biggest save came late in the period of a Tyrell Goulbourne breakaway. Kelowna outshot the Cougars 12-10 in the first, but the Cougars led 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Kelowna wasted little time tying the score in the second. Just 1:49 into the period, Madison Bowey kept the puck in the Cougars zone off a failed clear and flipped a backhand shot towards the goal. Tyrell Goulbourne was crashing the net hard and deflected Bowey’s shot past Ty Edmonds for his second goal of the season.

59 seconds later the Kelowna Rockets took the lead on the power play. Kelowna captain Damon Severson wired a point shot through traffic and past Edmonds for his fourth of the season.

Tyson Baillie increased Kelowna’s lead to 3-1 on a power play just less than three minutes later. In total, the Rockets scored three times in the first 5:35 of the second, and had full momentum on their side.

Prince George snatched momentum back at 8:04 when Carson Bolduc banged home a Zach Pochiro rebound for his first tally of 2013-2014.

The teams traded chances for the remainder of the second, but neither Jordan Cooke or Ty Edmonds could be beaten.

Kelowna controlled play for a large majority of the third but the Cougars did not go without chances. Zach Pochiro came the closest to tying the game as he was set up twice in front of the Kelowna goal, but was unable to beat Jordan Cooke.

In the end, the Rockets were able to hold on to the 3-2 victory, their seventh of the season. Kelowna outshot the Cougars 36-23 and finished two-for-five on the power play. The Cougars were one-for-three.

With the loss, the Cougars record now sits at 6-7-0-1. They wrap up their four game road trip with a 1-3 record and will now return home for six consecutive games on home ice. Next up, the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night at the CN Centre.