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Open-scoring (and statistically bizarre) night sees Prince George Cougars lose to Kelowna

Fischer O'Brien nets first WHL goal in 6-3 setback

One for the statistical record books!

The hockey gods aligned certain stars together in ways one couldn't even imagine tonight (April 17), which included five shorthanded goals between the Prince George Cougars and Kelowna Rockets, coincidental timings, a hat-trick and a near-completed four-goal comeback attempt.

At the final buzzer, the Cougars fell by a score of 7-5, finishing its weekend doubleheader 1-1 and dropping their 2020-21 B.C. Division hub season record to 4-4-1-1.

Mark Lamb has coached 576 WHL games thus far and he's endured some roller-coaster rides, but the Cats' General Manager and bench boss says he had never experienced one like this before.

"There's been a lot of bizarre games, and yeah, it was right up there," he remarked after responding to PrinceGeorgeMatters' question with a slight chuckle.

"We had them on their heels right at the end, but it was one crazy game. I guess it's just par for the course with what's [been] happening this past year."

It didn't take long for Kelowna to light the board for the first time in nearly three weeks after completing a 14-day suspension when seven members, including four players, tested positive for COVID-19.

Trevor Wong backhanded the puck through Young's legs 23 seconds into the contest after Jake Poole intercepted a clearing shot to keep the puck in the Prince George end.

Koehn Ziemmer brought the game back to even par with a 1-1 tying goal at 11:56, rifling one past Rockets' netminder Cole Schwebius with an assist from fellow rookie Jared Brinson.

However, Kelowna regained the one-goal advantage with just over three minutes left to make it 2-1 for the designated visitors.

What happened next was most likely something unheard of in the many, many years of the WHL (correct me if I'm wrong).

Three consecutive shorthanded goals were recorded between the two teams, two for Kelowna, including one from Wong, and one for Prince George resulting in a 4-2 score in favour of the Rockets.

The Cougars' marker came courtesy of Prince George's own Fischer O'Brien (unassisted) on a partial breakaway at 10:43, the first of his major junior career, after the rookie poked a pass out of his own zone and up the left-side boards, outskating three Rockets and beating Schwebius five-hole ona subtle backhand.

Kelowna lit one more lamp to go into the intermission with a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes; Wong completed the hat-trick on the play.

Prince George began the final frame on a five-minute power-play after Kelowna's Alex Swetlikoff, with four seconds left in the second, received a cross-checking major and a game misconduct for taking down defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk head high.

However, they allowed another shorthanded goal, the fourth of the night and second from Wong for his fourth of the overall match, which also came 23 seconds into the third.

Dowhaniuk returned to the ice after taking the brunt of Swetlikoff's hit and scored his second career WHL goal in as many games 43 seconds later to cut Kelowna's lead to 6-3.

With less than six minutes left in regulation, Kyren Gronick potted a power-play goal, his third of the campaign, to make it 6-4 and keep the Cougars' comeback hopes alive.

He then scored a second straight goal, the fifth shorthanded goal of the meeting, for a one-goal difference, with 2:17 remaining; Gronick went on to earn the third star for his efforts.

The Rockets ultimately sealed the 7-5 final by sending a puck down ice to an empty cage and claim their second win of 2020-21.

Ty Young made 28 saves on 34 shots in his first WHL start, roughly two months after signing with Prince George.

Coach Lamb says he was content with keeping the 16-year-old between the pipes.

"He battled the whole night, he didn't need to come out at all," he explained, noting his skaters were the ones that needed to step up.

"It was everybody in front of him, but not everybody [entirely]. You know, some of our leaders and our older guys, they got to take the bull by the horn."

The contest was also the fifth time in the WHL this year across all hubs to combine for 12 goals or more.

Prince George product Scott Cousins also notched his first career point in his league debut this evening.

He assisted on Kelowna's fourth goal, their second straight shorthanded tally at 6:58 of the middle stanza (see video below).

The Cougars finished the contest 33 per cent (2/6) on special teams.

Prince George is scheduled to stay in the Kamloops hub for the next three games.

They'll face the Vancouver Giants on Monday (April 19) with a 7 p.m. puck drop.