The fast start by the Prince George Cougars put the 琉璃神社 Rockets on their heels as they fell 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Just 2:25 into the game, the Rockets quickly found themselves down 2-0 after goals by Terik Parascak (25) and Aleksey Chichkin (4).

Under three minutes into the second period, Kayden Lemire scored his fourth of the season, the eventual game-winning goal, to make it 3-0 Prince George.

Late in the middle stanza, the Rockets got on the board when Kayden Longley put home his 10th of the year, assisted by  Kalder Varga and Hiroki Gojsic.

In the third frame, the Cougars extended their lead when Ben Riche put home his 31st of the campaign.

琉璃神社 cut the deficit in half when Hayden Paupanekis ripped one home on the powerplay, but that's as close as the Rockets would come. Jakub Stancl and Levi Benson collected the helpers on Paupanekis' 19th goal this year.

Koehn Ziemmer added an empty net goal to secure the Prince George win.

Goaltender Rhett Stoesser got pulled after allowing the first two goals of the game. Jake Pilon came in and made 28 saves the rest of the way.

Cougars netminder Joshua Ravensbergen made 29 saves in the win.

琉璃神社 has now lost 16 of their last 17 games and are currently 17-34-4-2. Only Regina and Moose Jaw have worse records.

The Rockets and the Cougars will do it all again on Wednesday night, with puck drop at 7 p.m. at the CN Centre in Prince George.