Despite an early three goal deficit, the Kootenay Ice managed to take the Prince George Cougars into overtime for their first exhibition action of the WHL preseason at an annual tournament hosted by the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Washington.
However, it was Jensen Harkins who sealed the deal for the Cougars less than a minute into the extra frame to hand the Ice a 5-4 loss.
Prince George built an early three-goal lead in the first period off of goals from Josh Anderson—a power play marker—while Aaron Boyd and Jared Bethune also chipped in offence.
However, early in the second frame, the Ice responded with some help from the veterans as Matt Alfaro and Jared Legien put Kootenay on the board, while newcomer Fedor Rudakov also found the back of the net in the third period.
A goal from Harkins late in the game looked like it was enough to lift the Cougars to the win, however, Legien tallied with just over 30 seconds left in the affair to knot it up and send it to overtime.
Kootenay goaltending duties were evenly split at 30 minutes apiece between Payton Lee and Jakob Walter; Lee with 16 stops in 19 shots, while Walter made 22 saves on 24 pucks directed on goal.
Prince George also split their goaltending duties between Ty Edmonds and Tavin Grant, with Kootenay putting a collective 27 shots on goal.
The Ice were shut out on four opportunities with the power play and gave up one goal while killing three penalties.
The Ice face the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday evening for their second game of the tournament.