Although a border and over 10 hours of highway separate the Prince George Cougars and Seattle Thunderbirds, they have managed to create quite a rivalry in recent seasons. Friday night’s game was no exception. The Cougars erased a 4-2 deficit with less than three minutes remaining in the third, and ultimately secured two points with a 5-4 shootout victory. Troy Bourke and Jansen Harkins each had a goal and an assist for the Cougars while Ty Edmonds stopped 40 of the 44 shots through 65 minutes and five of Seattle’s six shootout attempts in goal.

Early in the first, the Cougars drew first blood when Jansen Harkins won a face-off in the offensive zone and fired a quick shot on T-Birds goalie Danny Mumaugh. Harkins’ first attempt was denied but he knocked in his own rebound for his third goal of the season.

Seattle answered late in the first on a five-on-three power play. Shea Theodore placed a perfect pass from the left point to the far side of the goal where Roberts Lipsbergs tapped home his ninth goal of the season.

Shots were 13-12 favoring the Cougars after the opening 20 minutes.

Seattle took a 2-1 lead at the 1:39 mark of the second period thanks to some great work from Branden Troock. And Eric Benoit. Ty Edmonds stopped Troock’s initial chance from in close, but Eric Benoit was able to convert on the rebound for his second tally of 2013-2014.

The next few minutes belonged to Seattle who continued to pepper the Cougars goal with shots. Ty Edmonds made a glorious arm save off of Riley Sheen to keep the game within reach for the visitors.

Past the mid-way point of the second, the Cougars went to a power play and made the T-Birds pay. Troy Bourke found Chase Witala along the left wing and Witala fired a shot past the blocker of Mumaugh for his fifth of the season.

From there, the Cougars took over. They fired 21 shots total on the Seattle net in the second, but Danny Mumaugh kept the game tied with a series of saves.

Late in the second Seattle restored their lead when Riley Sheen maneuvered his way through the Cougars defense and beat Edmonds with a high shot for his second of the campaign, and Seattle took the 3-2 lead into the final period, despite being outshot 34-22.

It appeared all but over for the Cougars late in the third when Ethan Bear made it 4-2 on a Seattle power play with just 3:10 left in the game.

But 24 seconds later the Cougars answered when Klarc Wilson knocked home a Raymond Grewal rebound for his fifth of the season.

Just over a minute later with the net empty, Seattle had a chance to wrap up the game with an empty net goal, but they fired wide and missed the net, which resulted in an icing and a Cougars timeout.

Mark Holick pulled Ty Edmonds in favor of the extra attacker and the decision would soon pay off.

Alex Forsberg and Zach Pochiro did a great job to keep the puck onside, and once he got behind the Seattle goal, Alex Forsberg centered a pass out in front to Troy Bourke, who blasted the game-tying goal from the high slot with just 55 seconds left in regulation time

Overtime provided some great scoring chances for both teams, but neither Ty Edmonds nor Danny Mumaugh gave an inch. Edmonds was particularly impressive stopped all seven shots against. 65 minutes would not be enough, and the Cougars were headed to the shootout for a second time this season.

Seattle’s first three shooters were denied, as were the first three from Prince George. But Branden Troock got Seattle on the board with a goal in the fourth round, which put the game in the hands of Cougars captain Troy Bourke.

Bourke skated in on Danny Mumaugh and stuffed a puck through the five-hole to keep the game alive.

Two rounds later the shootout would come to an end. Ty Edmonds stopped Seth Swenson’s, which left Jordan Tkatch with the chance to secure the win for Prince George.

Tkatch skated down the middle and fired a shot past Danny Mumaugh to secure the second point for the Cougars.

Both goaltenders deserved some kudos after this one as both faced over 40 shots. Danny Mumaugh turned aside 46 of the 50 shots he faced while Ty Edmonds s topped 44 of Seattle’s 44 attempts.

The victory helps move the Cougars to an even 6-6-0-1 on the season. The Cougars were one-for-two on the power play but finished just two-for-four on the penalty kill.

Prince George is now 1-2 on their current four game road trip and will wrap things up on Saturday night in Kelowna against the Rockets.