ISight Optometry Recap: Rockets drop tightly contested game to Cougars on Friday night

ISight Optometry Recap: Rockets drop tightly contested game to Cougars on Friday night

It was a tightly contested game on Friday night at Prospera Place between the Kelowna Rockets and Prince George Cougars, one that was ultimately won by a 3-2 score in favour of the visitors.

Levi Benson scored the opening goal with Dawson Gerwing potting his 11th of the season while goaltender Jake Pilon turned aside 26 shots in defeat.

HIGHLIGHTS | BOXSCORE | POST GAME MARTIN

GAME SUMMARY

The Rockets opened the scoring when Benson found himself on a breakaway thanks to two Cougars defenders colliding in the neutral zone. Benson broke in on Cougars goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen and beat him with a slick backhand deke to give Kelowna a 1-0 lead. Prince George would answer eight minutes later when Borya Valis tallied his 26th of the season, giving us a tie game through 20.

Prince George would take the lead and then double it when Terik Parascak potted his 22nd of the game on the power play and Riley Heidt would score his 24th of the campaign at 11:13 of the second stanza.

Kelowna would come out hard in the third period and would get rewarded for their efforts as Dawson Gerwing tipped a Will Sharpe point shot on the power play to get Kelowna within one. However, that was as close as they’d get with the Cougars taking a 3-2 victory.

“The guys in there are working,” said Rockets Interim Head Coach Derrick Martin about the club’s effort tonight. “The guys in that room, they care in there. They care a whole bunch. If we play like we did tonight and Wednesday night in Victoria during the final stretch, we’ll be OK.”

ADDITIONAL STATS