The Prince George Cougars' four-game winning streak ended Saturday in a 4-1 loss to the Kamloops Blazers at CN Centre.
Caedan Bankier scored twice to lead the Blazers.
Riley Heidt had the lone Cougars' goal, two minutes into the second period.
Ashton Ferster collected his first goal in 17 games with the Blazers since being acquired in the off-season from Medicine Hat - the only goal of the first period.
Prince George had some looks towards the goals, including a Heidt one-timer in the final seconds, but Blazers netminder Dylan Ernst made a terrific save.
Heidt snuck one past Ernst to tie the game 1-1, but Kamloops responded just under two minutes later. Bankier got the Blazers back ahead and shortly after, Fraser Minten hammered a one-timer to put Kamloops ahead 3-1 after two periods.
In the third, Bankier scored a highlight-reel goal that came shorthanded just 40 seconds into the third. The Cougars outshot the Blazers in the third but could not solve Ernst, who made 34 saves as his team was outshot 35-28. Tyler Brennan took the loss in goal for the Cougars.
The Blazers improved their Western Hockey League record to 11-5-3-1 and they pulled even in points with the Cats (13-10-0-0), who continue to cling to first place in the B.C. Division standings. The Blazers have played three fewer games than Prince George.
The Cougars return to the ice Friday to face the Regina Pats in the only meeting between the teams this season. The Pats will be in Kelowna to face the Rockets on Tuesday, then play Wednesday in Kamloops.
Pats' 17-year-old centre Connor Bedard, a native of North Vancouver expected to be selected first overall in the NHL draft in June, had four goals in Regina's 9-5 win over the Victoria Royals in front of a sellout crowd of 7,006 Saturday in Victoria.Bedard had three goals and an assist in that game and leads the WHL with 22 goals and 53 points in 24 games.
Friday's game in Prince George could be the first sellout of the season at CN Centre.Some sections of the rink have already sold out and most sections have just single seats available. Go to the Tickets North website for tickets.
