Friday night in Prince George, the Cougars dropped a 9-2 score to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Seattle scored four times in both the first and second periods while the Cougars had one each in the first and third. Mathew Barzal (four assists) and Roberts Lipsbergs (two goals and two assists) led the way offensively for Seattle with four points each. Tyler Mrkonjic and Brad Morrison had the goals for Prince George.

Seattle led 4-1 after one period. Roberts Lipsbergs opened the scoring for Seattle at 11:13 of the first, but Brad Morrison quickly responded with his 19^th of the season at 13:21 of the first on a power play.

Ryan Gropp helped Seattle regain the lead with his 19^th at 15:16, and 50 seconds later Lipsbergs notched his second of the period to push Seattle ahead by two. Cougars goaltender Ty Edmonds was pulled after the 3-1 goal, and in came Tavin Grant who was greeted by a Scott Eansor goal at 19:08 of the first to put Seattle up 4-1 after one.

Keegan Kolesar scored twice in the second period for Seattle while Shea Theodore and Turner Ottenbreit each added singles to extend Seattle’s lead to 8-1 after two periods.

Calvin Spencer and Tyler Mrkonjic traded third period goals which resulted in the 9-2 final score.

Prince George finished the game one-for-five on the power play while the Thunderbirds went two-for-four. Two of Seattle’s power plays were five-minute majors after both Josh Connolly (slashing) and Josh Anderson (checking to the head) were kicked out of the game for the Cougars.

Despite the loss, the Cougars remain just two points back of third place in the B.C. Division as both Kamloops and Vancouver both lost their games on the road.

The Cougars (20-30-1-1) will return to action tomorrow night with revenge on their minds as they look for their second victory of the season against Seattle. They’ll also have their captain back as Sam Ruopp returns to the Cougars lineup after serving his five game suspension.