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.
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“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.