A strong effort, but a poor result for the Prince George Cougars on Friday night in Spokane. Jason Fram and Mitch Holmberg scored 58 seconds apart late in the third to snap a 2-2 tie, and the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Cougars 5-2. Mitch Holmberg led the way with two goals and two assists for Spokane while Todd Fiddler countered with a goal and an assist for Prince George.

Eight minutes into the game the Cougars grabbed a 1-0 lead when Zach Pochiro converted off a Todd Fiddler pass from the side of the goal. Fiddler won a race to a loose puck behind the Chiefs goal, wrapped the puck around and then fed Pochiro on the far side. For Pochiro it was his 10th goal of the season.

Spokane countered at 13:59 on the power play. Jason Fram took a pass at the right point, and then threw a perfect pass to Mike Aviani who snuck through the defence and behind Ty Edmonds to tap home the pass for his 19th of the season.

After one period the shots were 12-8 for Spokane, but the score was 1-1 with neither team holding a clear advantage.

It was a similar story in period two as both teams took turns carrying the play. Eric Williams made a big stop off of Chase Witala to keep the game even.

At 13:38 of the second period the Cougars regained their lead thanks to some great fort checking by Zach Pochiro and Klarc Wilson behind the Chiefs goal. Zach Pochiro forced the puck free to Klarc Wilson who then made a quick pass on his backhand to Todd Fiddler in front of the net, and Fiddler made no mistake for his seventh of the season.

Just over a minute later, Spokane tied the game on a bit of a weird play. Cougars goaltender Ty Edmonds came out of the net to try and clear the puck out. Edmonds fanned on his clear, and Spokane’s Mitch Holmberg intercepted, and wired a shot off the outside of the post. The rebound made it’s way back to the point and Chiefs defenceman Tyler King fired a shot that deflected off of Holmberg and in past Edmonds to tie the score at two. For Holmberg it was his league leading 24th of the season.

Early in the third period the Cougars had the better chances. Eric Williams made a big save off of Brett Roulston from point-blank range to keep the game tied. That save would prove to be crucial as the period wore on.

Spokane grabbed their first (and only) lead of the game at the 11:56 mark of the final period. Off a failed clearing attempt, the Chiefs worked the puck around the outside. Defenceman Jason Fram took a pass from the right point, and fired a shot through traffic and in for his third of the season.

The Cougars had a chance to tie it almost immediately thanks to a Cole Wedman penalty, but instead it was Spokane who capitalized.

Mitch Holmberg raced down the right wing shorthanded, and instead of shooting from the bad angle he swooped around the Cougars goal, and fired a high shot on goal that bounced off of Edmonds’ back and in for his second of the game and 25th of the season.

Two goals in a 58 second span had the Chiefs up by two with less than eight minutes remaining.

Liam Stewart would add an empty net goal in the final minute to seal the deal for Spokane who ended up outshooting the Cougars by a margin of 30-26.

Spokane only had one power play, but they capitalized on it to finish the game one-for-one. The Cougars were zero-for-four on their power play chances.

The victory improves the Chiefs record to 15-7 while the Cougars now sit at 8-13-1-3 and in ninth place in the Western Conference standings.

Up next: The Everett Silvertips on Saturday night, marking the second of five straight games on the road for the Prince George Cougars.