Friday night’s game in Kelowna served as a reminder that 51 strong minutes in a 60-minute game is sometimes not enough. The Prince George Cougars, on the road, led the Kelowna Rockets for a large majority of Friday’s game, but the Rockets exploded with four goals in the final eight minutes and 18 seconds, and secured a 5-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. Marc McNulty had a goal and an assist for Prince George while Nick Merkley, Mitch Wheaton and Colton Heffley each had two-point nights for the Rockets. Cougars goaltender Ty Edmonds turned aside 46 of the 51 shots he faced between the pipes.

Midway through the first period, the Cougars opened the scoring when Klarc Wilson centered a pass in front of the Rocket’s goal. Marc McNulty charged hard towards the goal and got his stick on the puck and tipped it past Jackson Whistle for his fourth goal of the season.

Ty Edmonds had to make some big saves towards the end of the first as Kelowna received a late power play, and through 20 minutes the Cougars led 1-0 despite being outshot 15-13.

Kelowna came out firing in the second period, but could not find a way to solve Ty Edmonds.

Prince George added to their lead at 7:21 of the second period thanks to some great work down low by the Cougars checking line of Klarc Wilson, Brett Roulston and Jordan Tkatch. After some strong pressure down low, the Rockets failed to clear the puck. Jordan Tkatch’s initial shot was stopped but he pounced on his own rebound and lofted it over the pad of Jackson Whistle for his third goal of the season.

Despite the 2-0 deficit, Kelowna continued to apply pressure. They outshot the Cougars 19-5 and were finally rewarded for their efforts late in the period on a power play. Nick Merkley fed a pass across the ice to a pinching Riley Stadel who buried his ninth past Ty Edmonds to make it a 2-1 game.

Kelowna received another power play shortly after their opening goal, but Ty Edmonds made two terrific saves to keep his team in front.

The third period was very even through the first 10 minutes. Jackson Whistle made some glorious saves off of Chase Witala and Raymond Grewal early to keep the score within one, and Ty Edmonds was equal to the task at the other end. At the halfway point of the third, the Cougars still led 2-1.

That changed immediately following the third period radio timeout. After an icing, the faceoff was held deep in Cougars territory to the left of Ty Edmonds. The right-handed Tyson Baillie fired a bullet right off the faceoff that caught everybody, including goaltender Ty Edmonds by surprise. The puck beat Edmonds to the short side and the game was tied at two.

Kelowna now had full momentum, and completed their comeback just over two minutes later when Colton Heffley threw a big body check on Raymond Grewal behind the Cougars goal. Kelowna held the puck in off the failed clear, and one pass later the game was tied. Colton Heffley who was screening Ty Edmonds on the play deflected Damon Severson’s point shot home. Heffley’s fort checking efforts paid off with his second of the season, and a 3-2 Kelowna lead.

Nick Merkley and Ryan Olson then struck 55 seconds apart to give Kelowna some insurance.

The final shot tally had Kelowna ahead of the Cougars 51-28. The Rockets went one-for-five on the power play while the Cougars went zero-for-four.

Ty Edmonds faced over 50 shots for the first time in his young career, and did his part stopping 46 of the 51 he faced. He received third star honors for his efforts.

The loss is the Cougars sixth straight, and their record now sits at 7-10-1-3.  Fortunately the Cougars don’t have a long time to dwell on Friday’s result, as they return to action Saturday night in Vancouver against the Giants. It’s the second of three games in three nights for the Cougars.