24 hours removed from a tough home opening loss, the Prince George Cougars responded in a positive way on Saturday night. Alex Forsberg and Klarc Wilson each had a goal and an assist as the Prince George Cougars defeated the Kamloops Blazers by a 3-1 score. 

After killing off just one of their three penalties on Friday, the  Cougars special teams were put to the test early when Zach Pochiro took a hooking minor just 36 seconds into the game. Ty Edmonds made some key early saves and the Cougars were able to kill off the man advantage. 

Moments later the Cougars would make it 1-0 when Alex Forsberg banged home a Tate Olson rebound for his first of the 2013-2014 season. Klarc Wilson had the second assist on the goal. 

At 13:12 of the first, the Cougars would strike again. Tyler Mrkonjic did a great job in his own zone of creating a two-on-one rush with Brad Morrison. Taran Kozun stopped the original Mrkonjic shot, but Brad Morrison pounced on the rebound and buried it for his second of the young season. 

The Cougars took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and outshot Kamloops 14-10 in the first period. 

10 seconds into the second, the Cougars would pad their lead on the power play. Troy Bourke raced the puck in down the left wing side, and hit the post on his first opportunity. Bourke grabbed his own rebound and his shot found it’s way past Kozun to put the Cats up by three. The goal was credited to Klarc Wilson with Troy Bourke and Alex Forsberg assisting. 

The game’s final goal came at 6:02 of the second when Josh Connolly snuck a shot underneath the blocker of Ty Edmonds. For Connolly it was his second goal and fourth point of the weekend. 

From there, both goaltenders kept the door shut. Taran Kozun was excellent for Kamloops  in the final two periods turning aside 31 consecutive shots, and Ty Edmonds was equal to the task making some timely stops late in the second and early in the third to keep his team ahead by two. 

A scary moment occurred in the third period when Kamloops forward Cole Ully rammed Cougars defenceman Sam Ruopp into the boards from behind. Ully received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for checking from behind, and Sam Ruopp didn’t play another shift. 

Though the Cougars were unable to score on the power play, they were able to kill off five full minutes from the clock. Ty Edmonds did the rest making some big stops down the stretch to keep the game at a 3-1 score. 

The Cougars outshot Kamloops 46-27 and finished the game one-for-six on the power play. Kamloops went zero-for-four on their power play chances. 

The Cougars improve their season record to 2-3, while improving to 1-1 against Kamloops this season. 

Next up for the Cougars: The Victoria Royals on Tuesday and Wednesday at the CN Centre.