The Kelowna Rockets fell 4-2 to the Prince George Cougars in WHL preseason action on Saturday night at Prospera Place.
Battling back and forth, it took until the 17:45 mark of the opening frame but Cole Carrier gave the Rockets a 1-0 lead that they held onto heading into the second period.
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Prince George collected a goal from Arjun Atwal in the middle stanza to even the game at one-a-piece. The score remained 1-1 into the third period thanks to James Porter stopping Craig Armstrong’s penalty shot attempt late in the stanza.
The Cougars scored early in the third to take a one goal lead but Nolan Foote quickly responded for the Rockets knotting things up at 2-2. With just under six minutes to go, Tyson Upper beat Rockets goaltender Cole Tisdale to regain the Cougars lead. Upper added an empty netter with three seconds remaining to secure the victory for Prince George.
James Porter and Cole Tisdale split time between the pipes for Kelowna with Porter playing the first two periods and Tisdale taking over to start the third. Porter stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced, while Tisdale stopped 9 of 11. The Cougars out shot the Rockets 27-25.
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Kelowna is back in action on Sept. 7 when they head down the road to the Sandman Centre in Kamloops to take on the Blazers. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. The Rockets are back home the next night for a rematch with the Blazers at Prospera Place. Puck drop on Saturday is 7:05 p.m.
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