The Prince George Cougars are 1-1 on their three game Alberta road trip following a 3-1 victory in Red Deer on Saturday night. Zach Pochiro, Dan Gibb, and Klarc Wilson supplied the goals while Chase Witala notched two assists. Mac Engel was sharp in goal stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced.

Red Deer’s lone goal came just 2:56 into the game while on a power play. Joel Hamilton finished off a pass from Tyson Ness at the side of the goal for his sixth of the season.

Less than two minutes later the Cougars responded with a goal of their own. Chase Witala did some great work off the cycle, and found Zach Pochiro behind the goal. Pochiro faked one way, and then went the other for a wrap-around and beat Patrik Bartosak for his seventh of the season.

Prince George then took a 2-1 lead at 15:31 when Dan Gibb finished off a nice sequence that was started by Klarc Wilson and Chase Witala down low. Klarc Wilson sent a nice pass to Gibb at the left point, which wired a shot past the glove of Bartosak for his second of the season.

Early in the second, the Cougars nearly padded their lead, but Patrik Bartosak made two excellent saves point-blank off of Jordan Tkatch on a shorthanded breakaway. The Cougars would outshoot Red Deer 12-5 in the second, and took a 2-1 lead into the final frame.

The Rebels outshot the Cougars 14-4 in the third, but goaltender Mac Engel was steady in goal for the Cougars. His best save came off a Brady Gaudet chance on a Rebels power play. Despite being outshot, the Cougars stayed defensively sound, and sealed the game when Klarc Wilson scored into an empty net for his sixth of the season.

Both Wilson and Chase Witala finished the game with two points, as the Cougars earned their first road victory since late November. The Cougars killed off five of Red Deer’s six power plays and finished zero-for-two on the power play.

The two points from tonight’s game are big for the Cougars who keep pace with both Seattle and Everett in the Western Conference, as both teams won their respective games tonight as well.

Next up, the Edmonton Oil Kings, Sunday afternoon at 4:00.