The Spokane Chiefs have drawn first blood this weekend against the Prince George Cougars. Friday night at CN Centre in front of nearly 5300 fans, the Cougars fell 3-2 to the Spokane Chiefs. Markson Bechtold and Curtis Miske each had two points for the Chiefs while goaltender Tyson Verhelst made 28 saves to help lead the Chiefs to their 30^th victory. Jesse Gabrielle and Jansen Harkins had the goals for the Cougars while Ty Edmonds and Nick McBride combined for 19 saves on 22 shots faced.

8:04 into the first period the Chiefs took a 1-0 lead when Keanu Yamamoto potted his 19^th goal on a power play. The Cougars outshot the Chiefs 9-7 in the first but couldn’t solve Verhelst in the later stages of the period.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan made it 2-0 Spokane just 1:40 into the second which spelled the end of the night for Cougars goaltender Ty Edmonds who was lifted from the game after surrendering two goals against on nine shots faced. In came Nick McBride who played the remainder of the game for the Cougars who stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced the rest of the way.

Jesse Gabrielle put the Cougars on the board while shorthanded at 5:58 of the second when he raced down the right wing and snuck a shot past Verhelst on a two-on-one rush. For Gabrielle it was his league leading 40^th goal, which makes him just the sixth Cougar to ever reach the 40 goal mark and the youngest of the six to ever reach the 40 goal plateau.

Spokane though took their 2-1 lead into the second intermission despite being outshot 17-12 by the Cougars.

Curtis Miske and Jansen Harkins traded goals in the third period, but the Cougars were unable to find the equalizer in the final minutes of the third and the Chiefs held on to secure the 3-2 victory for the Chiefs. The shots were 30-22 for Prince George who also missed their share of nets.

Spokane finished the night one-for-seven on the power play while the Cougars went one-for-five.

With the loss the Cougars record now sits at 35-27-3-1, three points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers for third in the B.C. Division. The Cougars and Chiefs will meet again tonight for the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs.