For a third straight Friday the Prince George Cougars were involved in a shootout game, and for a second straight Friday they were victorious. David Soltes and Jordan Tkatch had shootout goals, and Ty Edmonds stopped Jake Virtanen in the fourth round to give the Cougars their seventh victory of the 2013-2014 season, a 4-3 score over the Calgary Hitmen. Chase Witala added two goals in regulation and Zach Pochiro had a single for the home side.

Early in the first period Zach Pochiro put the Cougars ahead 1-0 after knocking home a pass from Jansen Harkins. For Pochiro it was his fifth of the season with Alex Forsberg and Jansen Harkins assisting.

Calgary quickly answered with a goal of their own. Terrell Draude capitalized off a Jaynen Rissling rebound for his first ever WHL goal. Joe Mahon had the second helper.

Late in the period the Cougars restored their lead when Chase Witala beat Chris Driedger on a two-on-one to record his team-high seventh goal of the season. Troy Bourke had the lone tally on Witala’s marker.

Prince George dominated the first half of the second period. They peppered the Calgary goal with pucks, but Chris Driedger was up to the task making some incredible stops off of Brad Morrison, Chase Witala and David Soltes to keep his team within reach.

Chase Witala changed all of that at 12:16 of the second when he stole the puck at his own blueline, raced down the left wing and blasted a low shot past the glove of Driedger for his second of the game and eighth of the season.

Once again though, Calgary was quick to counter. Brady Brassart deflected a point shot past Ty Edmonds for his eighth, and Calgary only trailed by one heading into the final stanza. The Cougars outshot Calgary 20-7 in the second.

Calgary returned the favor in the third though, as they put a ton of pressure on the Cougars goal. Ty Edmonds had to be sharp early and often, as Calgary had a number of quality looks at the goal. The Hitmen had three power plays in the third period, and were successful on their third and final attempt. Zane Jones scored his fifth of the season late in the third on the man advantage to tie the game.

Fortunately the Cougars were able to stave off the Calgary attack for the remainder of the period. After being outshot so badly in the second period, Calgary responded with a 19-4 shot advantage in period three.

Overtime solved nothing, and a shootout would once again be required.

After the first four shooters all missed their chances, Jordan Tkatch put the Cougars ahead with a quick shot to the stick side that fooled Chris Driedger. Radel Fazleev quickly countered with a goal for Calgary, which forced the shootout into the fourth round.

David Soltes skated in slowly on Chris Driedger and snuck a shot through his legs to restore the Cougars shootout lead. Ty Edmonds then turned aside Jake Virtanen’s attempt to secure the Cougars victory.

The victory helps the Cougars improve to 7-7-0-1 on the season and 4-2-0-1 on home ice. The final shots were 39-35 for Calgary, and each team had three power plays. Calgary went one-for-three, while the Cougars were zero-for-three.

Fans won’t have to wait long for the rematch as it goes Saturday night at the CN Centre.