It was a record the Prince George Cougars would rather forget.
Just six seconds into their game Saturday night in Kelowna they gave up a goal to the Kelowna Rockets.
Gabriel Szturc took advantage of a turnover from Cougars defenceman Ethan Samson, broke in on the left wing and let go a high shot that eluded a sliding Hudson Thornton and sailed in over the glove of goalie Tyler Brennan.
The goal set a Rockets’ franchise record for the fastest goal to start a game and set the tone for what ended up a 4-1 Kelowna victory.
The Cougars trailed this one 3-0 before the game was six minutes old. They made it 2-0 when Turner McMillan’s centring pass deflected off Cougar forward Craig Armstrong and hit Brennan just before Nolan Flamand banged in the rebound.
Just 19 seconds later, Colton Dach took advantage of a similar bounce off the Cougar goalie and rapped the loose puck in for his eighth of the season.
The Cougars did get one back late in the period, a power-play tip-in from Connor Bowie, but that was all they could muster on goalie Talyn Boyko, who made 34 saves as the game’s first star.
Rockets’ captain Tyson Feist added one more with a one-timer from the top of the circle on a Kelowna power play early in the third period.
Shots favoured the Cougars 35-29. Boyko made a glove save in the third period to deny Cougars forward Koehn Ziemmer on a penalty shot, after he was hooked from behind by Jake Lee on a breakaway.
The Cats went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Kelowna was 1-for-1.
It was the fifth loss in six games and fourth this season in four games against the Rockets. The Cougars’ record dropped to (7-11-0-0), while Kelowna (10-5-0-2) continued to climb the Western Conference standings. The fourth-ranked Rockets are 6-2-0-2 in their most recent 10 games.
Saturday’s game was the start of a six-game roadtrip for the Cougars, who play their next game Tuesday in Seattle (7:05 p.m. start).
LOOSE PUCKS: Szturc’s goal was just one second off the WHL record for the fastest goal to start a game. The Seattle Thunderbirds set the record Jan. 30, 1987 when Dean Sexsmith scored five seconds into what ended up a 7-6 T-birds’ win over the Victoria Cougars.
