Taylor Gauthier did what he could to salvage the point but could not prevent a malfunction at the junction that doomed his Prince George Cougars to a 3-2 overtime loss Monday in Kelowna to the Kelowna Rockets.
Gauthier turned in one of his best goaltending displays of the season and had the Cougars heading to a shootout. That plan fizzled when Rockets forward Liam Kindree came off the bench and took advantage of a collision between Cougars Cole Moberg and Tyson Upper to get free long enough to accept a pass and unload the game-winning shot in over Gauthier’s glove with just three seconds left in overtime.
The Rockets outshot the road-weary Cougars 16-1 in the third period but were unable to put one past Gauthier, who was sharp all night while making 30 saves. Five of those shots came during a five-minute Rockets’ power play that came as a result of major kneeing penalty and game misconduct assessed to Cougar winger Reid Perepeluk when he ran into Rockets centre Matthew Wedman.
Gauthier was at his best late in the third period, twice robbing Rockets centre Trevor Wong.
The Cougars fought back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the second period.
The Cats had the early pressure off the opening face-off and were outshooting the Rockets 4-1 when they got burned after taking the first penalty of the game. With Upper off for slashing, Rockets defenceman Kaeden Korczak let go a shot that got through a screen in front of Taylor Gauthier to open the scoring 9:13 in – the ninth power-play goal in 23 chances against the Cougars this season. Korczak, who on Dec. 22 signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, collected his sixth goal of the season.
The Rockets made it 2-0 less than two minutes later. Mark Liwiski picked off a Cole Moberg pass, took off on a breakaway and blasted a shot in off the glove of Gauthier.
The Cougars cut the lead in half late in the period on a 5-on-3 power play. Moberg put a shot in behind goalie Roman Basran, finishing off a three-way passing play with Ryan Schoettler and Josh Maser.
The Cougars built an 11-4 shot advantage through the first period.
The Cats tied it midway through the second period with their first shorthanded goal of the season. The Rockets were called on a delayed penalty when Reid Perepeluk skated in and put a shot on Basran, who kicked out a rebound that Connor Bowie batted in for his seventh of the year.
Basran made 15 saves as the Rockets outshot the Cougars 33-17.
The Cougars (9-21-2-3), with their overtime point, moved within six points of the Tri-City Americans for the second wild-card playoff berth. Kelowna (19-13-1-2), remained second in the B.C. Division, six points behind the division-leading Kamloops Blazers, who lost 4-1 Monday at home to Victoria.
Kelowna won four of the first five games in the season series with the Cougars.
The Rockets were without their leading scorer, Nolan Foote, who is playing for Canada at the world junior championship in the Czech Republic.
The game marked the end of a three-game roadtrip for the Cougars, who were coming off a 5-1 loss to the Victoria Royals on Saturday. They came out of the Christmas break with a 4-3 win over the Western Conference-leading Everett Silvertips on Friday.
The Cougars host the Silvertips Friday and Saturday at CN Centre. After that, they’ll board the bus for a six-game tour of the East Division, Jan. 8-17, which includes stops in Regina, Prince Albert, Saskatoon Winnipeg, Brandon and Moose Jaw.
