By Larry Fisher

An elated Troy Bourke said his team was hungrier. Adam Brown lamented his teammates for not being hungry enough.

The end result backed both viewpoints, after Bourke potted three points to nullify another valiant effort by Brown as the Prince George Cougars kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 victory over the host Kelowna Rockets on Saturday night.

It was the second straight home-ice loss for Kelowna, which also dropped a listless 3-1 decision on Friday night to the equally desperate Victoria Royals (22-41-2-4), who are clinging to the Western Conference's final playoff spot - four points up on the Cougars (22-44-0-2).

"That's when we need to play harder," Brown said of Kelowna's inability to match the intensity of teams battling for playoff berths. "When a team's on the mat, you have to put them down and take them out, but that's not the way we're playing right now.

"They outworked us in every aspect of the game. It was a terrible effort on our part; that's nowhere close to where we need to be heading into playoffs. We have a lot to address before Wednesday (home game against seventh-place Everett)."

Bourke scored twice in the third period, tallying the eventual winner on a power play and adding an empty-netter with 38 seconds left, after earlier assisting on the game's first goal, by Ricard Blidstrand, in the first.

"We knew we had to get the win, and if we didn't, we'd be in tough water," said Bourke, the Cougars' leading scorer with 16 goals and 52 points. "We just kept it simple and played pretty relaxed and got the job done."

Myles Bell, who again bounced back and forth from defence to forward during Saturday's contest, replied for the sixth-place Rockets (29-31-3-6), who wasted 34- and 29-save performances by Brown in weekend losses that followed a three-game winning streak against top teams.

Kelowna swept a home-and-home set with B.C. Division-leading Kamloops, then scored a 3-2 shootout win over fifth-place Spokane on Wednesday prior to its latest letdown.

"It's getting old, especially at home," said a dejected Ryan Huska, Kelowna's coach. "(The Cougars) played the way they usually do, but I don't think we were any good. We didn't give them much competition tonight.

"It was two terrible games, at home, and that's the tough part about it all."

Drew Owsley made 24 saves for Prince George, which, despite having a game in hand on Victoria, has its work cut out with four games left - two against third-place Tri-City before finishing with two against Kamloops. The Cougars (46 pts.) are tied for ninth with Seattle (22-43-1-1), which has a game in hand on Prince George. Victoria has 50 points, one fewer than Everett (21-38-1-8).

"We can't really worry about what they do because we have no control over that," Bourke said. "We just have to worry about what we do and come out every game and try to get wins, and tonight was a big start."

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna's scratches were C Colton Sissons (concussion), D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body), C Spencer Main (concussion) and RW Tanner Moar.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/lo...le-effort.html