Adrian nets first WHL goal

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“The first 10 minutes was a little sleepy and after that we took over the game,” said O’Rourke. “We generated some pretty good opportunities and Ferguson put up a pretty good wall in the second period against us, even if we got two, and in the third (period) we had some good looks and just couldn’t finish off.

“We can’t be satisfied by being close, we have to get back and compete and our practices have to get harder. We have to find a way to push and pile up some points and keep climbing in the standings.”

Brodi Stuart added an empty-netter with 36 seconds left but the Cougars weren’t quite done and rookie Chance Adrian collected the first WHL goal of his career with seven seconds left, pouncing on the rebound of Liam Ryan’s shot.

Shots were 41-30 in favour of the Cougars.

The win moved Kamloops (11-13-0-0) out of the Western Conference basement ahead of the Cougars (9-12-2-2). Each team has 22 points. The Blazers started the season 0-9-0-0 and have won 11 of their past 15 games since they broke out of their slump with a 4-1 win over the Cougars Oct. 13 at CN Centre. Saturday’s win was the Blazers’ fourth straight and it gave Kamloops and 3-2 edge in the season series with five games still to come against the Cougars.

The Cats are back on the ice Wednesday in Kelowna against the Rockets.