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Kelowna Rockets fall in Prince George

Andrew Cristall extended his point streak to 20 games
Jordy Cunningham
Jordy Cunningham
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Hiroki Gojsic scored his ninth goal of the season on Friday night (Jan. 12) but it wasn’t enough as the Kelowna Rockets fell 5-2 to the Prince George Cougars. (@Kelowna_Rockets/X)

After a wild first period, the Kelowna Rockets couldn’t muster up any more offense as they fell 5-2 to the Prince George Cougars on Friday night.

Pucks often found the back of the net in the first frame, with two Rockets goals sandwiched between another two from the Cougars.

Carlin Dezainde scored just 2:49 into the contest to give Prince George a 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall extended his point streak to 20 with his 25th goal of the season, assisted by Caden Price and Gabriel Szturc.

A minute and a half after that, fresh off being ranked the 94th-best North American skater in the NHL Central Scouting midterm ranking, Hiroki Gojsic scored his ninth goal of the season to give the Rockets a 2-1 lead. Michael Cicek collected an assist on the goal.

Prince George tied the game later in the period when Oren Shtrom scored his 10th goal of the season.

The Cougars pounced to start the second period as Dezainde scored his second of the game, followed by Hudson Thornton’s 11th goal of the campaign, making it 4-2 Prince George.

In the third period, Dezainde completed the hat trick, scoring his third of the game, 11th of the season.

Goaltender Jari Kykkanen made 30 saves in the loss.

In his first game with the Rockets after being acquired before Wednesday’s trade deadline, defenceman Carter Kowalyk did what he could to make his presence felt in his new team’s line-up.

With the win, the Cougars (29-12-0-0) padded their Western Conference lead to five points over the Portland Winterhawks. Meanwhile, the Rockets remain sixth in the conference with a 19-18-2-0 record.

The Rockets and Cougars will do it all again on Saturday night in Prince George, with puck drop at 6 p.m.

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Jordy Cunningham

About the Author: Jordy Cunningham

Hailing from Ladner, B.C., I have been passionate about sports, especially baseball, since I was young. In 2018, I graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree
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