Tij Iginla made his presence felt in his return to the Kelowna Rockets lineup but the team fell short again, falling 5-2 to the Prince George Cougars.

Wednesday night's (Oct. 2) remained scoreless until the 12:45 mark of the first period when Cougars star Riley Heidt scored his first goal of the season.

Just 47 seconds into the second period, Iginla scored his first goal of the season to tie the game, assisted by Hiroki Gojsic.

Later in the frame, Michael Cicek scored his team-leading third goal this year to give the Rockets a 2-1 lead. Gojsic and defenceman Caden Price collected the helpers on the goal.

But the third period was all Prince George as they scored four goals from three different goal scorers to win 5-2. 

Terik Parascak scored two of the goals while Carlin Dezainde's fourth goal of the season was the game-winner.

Despite the loss, the Rockets outshot Prince George 29-26.

Kelowna goaltender Jari Kykkanen made 21 saves in the loss. 

The Rockets remain winless on the season and sit the bottom of the Western Conference with a 0-4 record.

This weekend, the team heads south of the border as they take on the Spokane Chiefs on Friday, Oct. 4 and the Tri-City Americans on Saturday, Oct. 5.