The Prince George Cougars are just one point back of the eighth placed Seattle Thunderbirds after a 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the Vancouver Giants on Friday night in Prince George. Jari Erricson led the way with two goals, and an assist while Ty Edmonds came into the game after one period and earned his first WHL victory in goal. 

Early in the first, the Cougars struck first when Jari Erricson made a great move at the Giants blueline to worm his way past the defender. Erricson then beat Jared Rathjen with a shot to the glove side for his ninth of the season. 

Vancouver would respond in the second half of the first when three unanswered goals. First it was Brendan Rouse who one-timed a Jackson Houck pass over the glove of Mac Engel and in for his 10^th of the season. Travis McEvoy then followed that up with a rebound goal from in close at 15:46, and all of a sudden the Giants led 2-1. 

Riley Kieser would then pad Vancouver’s lead with a power play marker at the 18:00 minute mark, and the Giants took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The Cougars held a slight edge in the shots department: 15-13 after one. 

Early in the second period, Cougars Captain Dan Gibb was on the receiving end of a knee-on-knee check from Giants forward Dalton Sward. Gibb would miss the remainder of the period, and the Cougars received a five minute power play. 

Ultimately the Cougars were unsuccessful on their power play try, but moments after the power play expired, Jordan Tkatch got lucky when a puck deflected off of a broken stick and right to him in the slot. He had an open net, and beat Jared Rathjen for his fifth of the season. 

Vancouver made it 4-2 on a second period power play when Cain Franson took a pass at the right side of the goal and shot it in off of Ty Edmonds for his 20^th goal of the season. 

Late in the second the Cougars went to their third power play, and this time they capitalized. Right off a faceoff, Marc McNulty put a shot on goal that Caleb Belter redirected home for his sixth of the season, and the Cats went into the second intermission down only 4-3. 

The Cougars received some good news to start the third period, as Captain Dan Gibb returned to the game, and would play a regular shift in the third period. 

Jari Erricson had some more early-period heroics left, as he started the third period with a goal just 1:10 in, and the Cougars were back at square one with Vancouver. 

After a relatively quiet night offensively, the duo of Troy Bourke and Colin Jacobs waited for the perfect time to chip in with a goal. It came just seconds after a Cougars penalty had expired. Jordan Harris raced out of the penalty box, and forced a turnover at the Cougars blueline. Colin Jacobs and Troy Bourke did the rest, combining on a beautiful two-on-one goal that Bourke finished off for his ninth of the season, and a 5-4 Cougars lead. 

Vancouver pushed back hard, but Ty Edmonds made 13 saves in the third to keep the Cougars ahead. 

Ryan Hanes would add an empty-netter for the Cougars who held on for their 17^th victory of the season. 

The final shots were 42-32 favoring Prince George. Vancouver went two-for-three on the power play while the Cougars were one-for-three. The victory for the Cougars coupled with a Seattle loss moves the Cougars just one point back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, with a game still in hand on Seattle.

 Both teams are back in action tomorrow, with the Cougars hosting Vancouver again while Seattle welcomes Calgary. 

Puck drop at the CN Centre goes Saturday at 7 PM.