Cougars outlast Rockets in shootout thriller

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“I think we got into penalty trouble, there’s just no question about it,” Reagan said. “When you have to kill off eight penalties, it’s going to be a tough night. It’s going to be a tough one to win.”

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Kelowna appeared to be in control early, building a 2-0 lead before the Cougars began chipping away. Prince George scored three unanswered goals, including two in a span of 51 seconds, to turn the game around and take a 3-2 advantage into the third period.

Reagan felt the Rockets lost some of their discipline and attention to detail as the game progressed.

“I didn’t think that we managed the puck very well in the second period there,” he said. “We just maybe got a little bit sloppy and got comfortable with a 2-0 lead.”

The combination of penalties and mistakes proved costly. While Kelowna’s penalty kill held up early, the workload eventually became difficult to manage.

“I liked our penalty kill early on in the game, but you put a lot of pressure on some key guys that got to play a lot of big minutes,” Reagan said. “Eventually, at this level, teams are going to figure out a way to score.”

Despite the disappointment of surrendering the lead, the Rockets showed some resilience in the third period.

Kelowna killed off an early penalty before pushing back offensively. Eli Barrett eventually supplied the equalizer, sending the game to overtime and giving the home side a chance to complete the comeback.

The Rockets had the better of the play in the final 20 minutes, outshooting Prince George 14-3. It was a strong response after a second period that threatened to get away from them.

Reagan credited the penalty killers for doing their job when the team needed it most.

“Our penalty kill did its job in the third period,” he said. “Sometimes it’s about the times where you do get those kills or those saves or those stops or those goals.”

Still, the Rockets couldn’t find that final breakthrough.

Reagan often looks at hockey as a puzzle, with every game presenting a different challenge and requiring the team to find the right pieces.

“We were close tonight, but we just didn’t figure out how to put that last piece in place,” he said. “We’ll learn from this, we’ll grow from it, and hopefully we’ll get rewarded later on in the season because of these growing pains that we’re going through.”

Overtime provided plenty of chances at both ends, with seven shots combined in the extra period. Kelowna had opportunities to end it, including a sequence involving Braunhausen and Guest that nearly produced the winning goal.

Reagan felt the Rockets were close to capitalizing but couldn’t quite finish the play.

In the shootout, Prince George made the most of its opportunity, securing the extra point and leaving Kelowna to settle for one.

There were positives for the Rockets, though, particularly considering their power play has struggled to produce recently. Kelowna collected three of a possible four points over the weekend despite not getting a power-play goal.

Reagan acknowledged that the lack of production with the man advantage was frustrating, but he also pointed to the team’s ability to remain competitive without it.

“You can look at it from the standpoint that our power play didn’t produce for us this weekend and cost us a point, or two wins, I guess,” he said. “But you have to give the rest of our game credit to be able to grab three out of four points when your power play’s not scoring for you.”

The assistant coach believes the Rockets are moving in the right direction, even if the results haven’t always gone their way.

Kelowna has now put together five straight games earning at least a point, and Reagan sees room for improvement as the group continues to learn how to close out tight games.

He also pointed to the team’s defensive numbers and ability to generate shots as reasons for optimism, believing that cleaning up a few areas could lead to a run of victories.

“We’re close to figuring out how to consistently win,” Reagan said. “There’s obviously areas that we need to be better in.”

The Rockets have one more game on their five-game homestand Wednesday against the Portland Winterhawks before heading out on the road. Reagan believes earning two points in that matchup would be an important way to finish the stretch at home.

For now, Saturday’s result serves as another lesson for a young team learning how to manage leads, stay out of the penalty box and find ways to finish games.

The Cougars left with the victory, but the Rockets showed enough in the third period to salvage a point and keep their streak of games earning points alive.

And if nothing else, the fans at Prospera Place were treated to a game that had just about everything.

“These are entertaining games,” Reagan said. “There’s no question about it. You come to a Kelowna Rockets game, you’re going to be happy with the entertainment value for sure.”