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Rockets take advantage of tired Cougars

Playing their second of back-to-back games, the Prince George Cougars didn’t have the jam to compete with the Kelowna Rockets and they were toast. The Rockets feasted on the fatigued Cougars 4-1, handing their WHL B.C.
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Playing their second of back-to-back games, the Prince George Cougars didn’t have the jam to compete with the Kelowna Rockets and they were toast.

The Rockets feasted on the fatigued Cougars 4-1, handing their WHL B.C. Division rivals their fourth-straight loss Friday night in the WHL hub in Kelowna.  

Goals from Tyson Feist and Dylan Wightman 43 seconds apart late in the second period boosted the Rockets (4-2-0-0) to their fourth win in six games in the pandemic-shortened season.

The Cougars (4-7-1-1) will get a couple days off before they return to Sandman Centre in Kamloops to face the Victoria Royals on Monday.

Feist took advantage of a face-off win in the Cougars’ end to score the go-ahead goal. He shook off a check attempt from Fischer O’Brien as he skated in from the blueline and wired a high shot in through a screen at the 18:55 mark. Wightman, a Kelowna native, added to the count at 19:38, taking a perfect feed from linemate Mark Liwiski for a tap-in from just outside the crease.

The Rockets’ power play struck paydirt less than two minutes into the third period. Alex Swetlikoff got the puck in the circle and blasted it in under the glove of Taylor Gauthier. Jake Poole capped the scoring with his third point of the game, 17:27 into the third, after an alert pass from Eric Comrie, who got to his own rebound after his shot failed to get through the Cougars defence.

Roman Basran made 24 saves as his team outshot the Cougars 36-25.

The Cats were coming off a 4-1 loss to the division-leading Kamloops Blazers Thursday in the Kamloops hub, after outshooting the Blazers 44-31, and they lacked energy to start Friday’s game. The Rockets owned the puck in the first period, outshooting Prince George 10-3 in the opening 20.

Dillon Hamaliuk’s opening goal came just after the Cougars killed off their first penalty and before they could get off the ice for a line change Poole forced Gauthier to kick out his leg to deflect a shot from the slot and Hamaliuk, a second-round San Jose Sharks’ draft choice in 2019, was standing just off the post to knock in the rebound.

Trailing 1-0, the Cougars tied it on their third power play of the game. Ethan Samson spied Majid Kaddoura at the top of the face-off circle and Kaddoura launched a one-timer that deflected in off a flinching Jonny Hooker, standing in front of the Kelowna net. It was Hooker fifth goal, one shy of his 14-game total in 24 games with the Cougars in 2019-20 after being acquired in a trade with Brandon for winger Reid Perepeluk. That came with about four minutes left in a much-better played second period for the Cougars, who appeared to have found their skating legs until they let the Rockets take control late in the period.

LOOSE PUCKS: The WHL announced earlier this week that the Rockets, who were forced to serve a 14-day quarantine in the first two weeks of April when several players and team staff became infected with COVID-19, will play just 16 games this season. That also means the season will shrink from 24 games to 22 for the Cougars, Blazers, Royals and Vancouver Giants… The Cougars dressed six 2004-born players Friday… Prospera Centre has been a desert for the win-starved Cougars. They have just five wins there in their last 21 games they’ve played in Kelowna. They’ve now lost five straight road games to the Rockets, dating back to last season… In their only other meeting with the Cougars this season, Saturday in Kamloops, the Rockets scored three shorthanded goals and won 7-5. The Cats scored twice while shorthanded in that game…