Tyson Barrie's nose for the net couldn't come at a better time for the Kelowna Rockets.
The 18-year-old defenceman finally brought the smell of victory back to the Rockets Friday night at CN Centre.
Just three full seasons into his WHL career, Barrie's scoring instincts have driven him to the No. 2 spot on the all-time list of Rockets defenceman, and those old habits kicked in again late in the second period to deliver a knockout punch to the Prince George Cougars.
Barrie caught up to a pass from teammate Brett Bulmer in the slot and rifled a shot into the Cougars net for the gamewinner at 15:05 of the second period to help fuel a 4-1 victory over the Cats.
Barrie, a third-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2009 draft, ranked second among WHL defencemen heading into Friday's game with 47 points and he increased that to 48 as he closes in on the Rockets franchise record. He now has 146 career points, trailing only Josh Gorges (152) and Mike Card (147).
"It's exciting to be up there with those guys and I've been fortunate to play on some good teams with some good players who make it easy for me," said Barrie.
"We needed this one, we were desperate and we've been on a bit of a skid so we're going to try to turn it around. I think we responded well (Friday) and we're going to try to carry it over to (tonight's) game."
The visit to Cougarville allowed the injury-plagued Rockets to snap a seven-game losing streak and improve to 20-25-2-2. They came into Prince George having lost 12 of 13 games. The last-overall Cougars (9-36-1-1) continued their downward slide, losing their eighth straight. The same teams meet again tonight (7 p.m.) at CN Centre.
There wasn't much for Cougars fans to cheer about until the end of the opening period. Mitchell Callahan drew first blood on a Rockets' power play 8:24 into the game. Callahan was parked on the edge of the blue paint and had plenty of time to whack in a rebound right after goalie Kyle Jahraus blocked a shot from the point.
The Cougars finally caught a break with 19.3 seconds left to get back on even terms. Taylor Makin, the pride of coal country in Blairmore, Alta., rifled a shot off the end glass and put on a burst of speed to get to the rebound and he lifted it in off the back of Adam Brown.
Brown, who shut out the Cougars 2-0 Nov. 21 at CN Centre, had a relatively easy night, making 27 saves to improve his season record to 19-15-1-2. Jahraus (2-5-0-0) turned aside 30 shots and is still looking for his first win as a Cougar since joining the team Jan. 10 in a trade from Seattle.
The Cougars lack of power in man-advantage situations continued to haunt them. Working at a 14 per cent success rate, the Cougars went 0-for-7 on the power play. The one that really hurt came when it was a 2-1 game halfway through the third period, when they had a two-man advantage for 91 seconds and couldn't come up with any great chances, let alone a goal.
Shane McColgan provided the insurance with his 19th of the season at 14:18 of the third, and Brandon McMillan added an empty-netter.
Bulmer, a 17-year-old Prince George minor hockey graduate, also assisted on Callahan's opener. Bulmer now has nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 41 games as a WHL rookie. He had several good chances to score Friday and was picked the game's first star.
"That was a really good game, we came out hard and played a full game," said Bulmer. "I was itching for a goal but two assists is nice and I'm just happy with the win.
"We've been working hard but the wins just haven't been coming but it's nice to get this one. We wanted to get on them early and carry the play and just play in the offensive end all night. The penalty kill was a big key for us."
KITTY LITTER: The game marked the return of 20-year-old defenceman Dallas Jackson, traded Jan. 10 to Kelowna for forward Tyler Halliday and a third-round bantam pick in 2010. Jackson was held off the scoreboard....Cougars left winger Brett Connolly has now missed 35 games with a hip injury. The 17-year-old Connolly, ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the No. 4 North American skater available for the June draft, moved up one notch to sixth on the International Scouting Services draft list of the top 30 prospects... Former Cariboo Cougar midget netminder Tim Zwiers was called into service as the Cougars' backup for the third-straight game... Heading into Friday's games, Chilliwack Bruins forward Ryan Howse was tied with Jordan Eberle of Regina for the WHL lead with 35 goals. Howse, a Prince George native, had one assist in a 4-3 loss in Kamloops Friday.
