Despite outshooting the Prince George Cougars 46-28, the Kelowna Rockets were on the wrong end of a 5-2 decision on Wednesday night at Prospera Place.
Cayden Glover beat Rockets netminder Jari Kykkanen just 2:32 into the game, and things got worse from there on in for the Rockets.
Halfway through the middle frame, the Cougars held a commanding 3-0 lead and never looked back.
“We did it to ourselves; up until the third period, we played with no urgency,” Rockets head coach Kris Mallette said after the game.
“I think that our guys came in with the mindset that it was going to be easy.”
In the third, Kelowna tried to rally with a goal from rookie defenceman John Babcock, but it wasn’t to be.
Less than a minute later, Prince George’s Carter MacAdams turned up ice and went in all alone to beat Kykkanen for his third goal of the night, earning first-star honours in the process.
The Cougars’ Ethan Samson added a power-play marker to cap Prince George’s scoring.
Kelowna’s Adam Kydd tallied his ninth of the season at 19:24 to close out the scoring.
Mallette said if teams think they can turn on a switch and have that heroic comeback, it won’t happen, because “this league is too good.”
The Rockets won’t have to wait long for a shot at redemption, as they head to Prince George for two games this weekend.