Special teams proved to be the ultimate difference Friday night as the Prince George Cougars dropped a 6-3 score to the Kelowna Rockets. Rourke Chartier struck twice for the Rockets who finished three-for-five on their power play. The Cougars answered with goals from Jansen Harkins,  Brad Morrison and Aaron Boyd. The Cougars kept the top team in the WHL within their sights for a majority of the night, but a Rourke Chartier goal at 10:15 of the third period proved to be the difference maker.

For a ninth consecutive game, the Cougars opened the scoring. Jansen Harkins took a Chase Witala pass on a power play, and ripped a shot past  the blocker of Jackson Whistle and in for his sixth of the season. The Harkins goal came just 2:34 into the first period.

Back came the Rockets though with two unanswered goals, both courtesy of Tyson Baillie. Baillie tied the game at 5:23 on the power play, and then added another power play marker with 13 seconds remaining in the first. Kelowna outshot Prince George 15-3 in the first, due in large part to three power play chances.

Early in the second Brad Morrison tied the score for the Cougars when he tapped home his own rebound at the 1:04 mark of the middle stanza. Morrison’s goal helps extend his point streak to eight games, and Chase Witala notched his second assist of the night on that play.

The Cougars continued to apply pressure, but Jackson Whistle made some big saves, and David Soltes hit a goal post which kept the game tied 2-2.

Late in the second the Rockets went to the power play again, and Rourke Chartier made the most of it. The league’s leading goal scorer tucked home a Tyrell Goulbourne rebound for his 21st of the season, giving Kelowna a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.

Near the mid-way point of the third the Cougars once again found the equalizer. On a shorthanded two-on-one, Jared Bethune slid a pass across the ice to Aaron Boyd who one-timed it past Jackson Whistle and in for his first ever WHL goal, and once again the game was tied.

However Rourke Chartier would restore Kelowna lead just over a minute later when he snuck a shot from the right circle up and over Jared Rathjen and in.

Kris Schmidli would extend Kelowna’s lead to 5-3, and Cole Linaker sealed the deal with an empty netter to give Kelowna their 19th victory of the season.

Kelowna finished the game three-for-five on the powerplay while the Cougars ended up one-for-five with a shorthanded goal for. The final shot totals were: Kelowna 36 – Prince George 23.

The Rockets are now 3-0 on the season against the Cougars, who will look for a measure of revenge on Saturday when these two teams face off yet again.