Kamloops comes up short in first of back-to-back games against Prince George

Photo: Contributed

File photo.

Try as they might the Kamloops Blazers couldn’t dig themselves out of a hole against the Prince George Cougars on Friday night, suffering a 4-2 loss.

Prince George jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period with Washington Capitals prospect Terik Parascak opening the scoring at 9:31 followed by Viliam Kmec at 15:32.

The Blazers’ Tommy Lafreniere got Kamloops on the board in the second period with a one-timer from the top of the left circle — his 23rd goal of the season — but the Cougars pounced with another pair of goals before the first 40 minutes were up. Borya Valis and Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt each scored for the Cougars in the second frame.

Kamloops captain Emmitt Finnie cut the lead back to two just thirty seconds into the third with a redirected powerplay goal off a pass from Oren Shtrom, but that was as close as the Blazers would come. With the win, the Cougars took the first of a home-and-home series against Kamloops on home ice in PG.

Kamloops goalie Logan Edmonstone stopped 21 shots while Joshua Ravensbergen turned aside 29.

The Blazers were 1/4 on the powerplay while Prince George went 0/4.

With the loss the Blazers are now 21-32-4-1 while the Cougars improve to 34-19-4-2.

Kamloops hosts Prince George at the Sandman Centre Saturday, March 1, for what will be the first of their final 10 games of the 2024-25 season. Puck drop at Sandman Centre is set for 6 p.m.

The Blazers currently sit outside the playoffs picture in 10th place, but just three points out of the eighth seed to make the post-season. Over their previous 10-game stretch prior to Friday's loss they posted a 3-5-1-1 record.