Kelowna Rockets road trip gets off on the wrong foot

Photo: James Doyle

The Kelowna Rockets opened and closed the scoring...but in between it was all Prince George Cougars Friday night.

The Cougars spotted the Rockets the game's opening goal, but roared back with six unanswered before the end of the second period in a convincing 6-3 victory over the visiting Rockets.

Kelowna will get an opportunity to even the score when the two teams meet again in PG Saturday.

Hudson Thornton led the charge with a pair of goals and an assist while Ethan Samson, Fisher O'Brien and Riley Heidt all had a goal and an assist.

Noah Boyko also scored for the Cougars.

Andrew Cristall on a breakaway after undressing a Cougar defenceman inside the blueline opened the scoring before the Cougars took control.

Jake Poole with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle on a power play and Rilen Kovacevic from the bottom of the circle rounded out the scoring in the third.

The Rockets dominated in the faceoff circle and outshot the Cougars 37-24, but came out on the wrong end where it mattered most.

Jari Kykkanen allowed all six goals on 22 shots before being replaced by Nicholas Cristiano in the third. The Cougars managed just two shots on Cristiano in the final period.