After dropping the first two games of their Eastern road trip, the Prince George Cougars have since responded with three consecutive victories. Friday night in Moose Jaw, the Cougars held off the Moose Jaw Warriors 2-1. Todd Fiddler broke a 1-1 tie with eight minutes and thirty seconds remaining in the third and Ty Edmonds turned aside 21 of the 22 shots he faced to earn his 16th victory of the season in goal.

After 20 minutes the game remained scoreless but Moose Jaw had a decisive edge in the play. They outshot the Cougars 13-6, and were it not for the steady play of Ty Edmonds, the score might have been different. Edmonds was tested early and often, but came up with timely saves off of Brandon Potomak and Braydon Point.

Early in the second the Cougars responded with some more urgency, and would soon be rewarded for it. Jansen Harkins led the rush down the left wing side, drew the defender to him and then dropped a pass to Marc McNulty in the slot. McNulty took two strides before beating Justin Paulic glove side for his 13th goal of the season and a 1-0 Cougars lead.

Just over three minutes later, the Warriors responded with the equalizer. Josh Uhrich raced wide to the right side and centered a pass into the Cougars goal crease. The puck deflected off of Ty Edmonds and in for Uhrich’s sixth goal of the season.

Later on in the second, the Cougars got into some penalty trouble when Wil Tomchuk and Tyler Mrkonjic both ended in the penalty box, and for 26 seconds Moose Jaw had a five-on-three power play.  But the Cougars were able to weather the storm and held the Warriors to just one shot during the power play.

After two periods the score remained 1-1 with the Warriors still holding the lead in shots: 20-16.

The third period started positively for the Cougars who held the Warriors without a shot for nearly nine full minutes. Justin Paulic stood his ground in goal for Moose Jaw but would eventually be beaten at the 11:30 mark by a familiar face.

Before the game, Cougars forward Todd Fiddler admitted that he’d enjoy the opportunity to get the ‘last laugh’ against the Moose Jaw Warriors, the team that he started the 2013-2014 season with. Fiddler grabbed a Klarc Wilson pass inside the Warriors zone, skated wide on the defender and stuffed a shot between the legs of Paulic for his 32nd goal of the season.

From there, the Cougars continued their strong defensive play. Moose Jaw had only one shot for the remainder of the game and the Cougars would ultimately hold on for their 21st victory of the season.

Neither team was able to capitalize on their power play chances. Prince George finished zero-for-four while Moose Jaw went zero-for-three. The final shot total favored Prince George: 25-22.

The victory helps improve the Cougars record to 21-26-2-5 and gives them three straight wins for the first time all season. Thanks to Tri-City’s loss in Edmonton, the Cougars are now back within six points of eighth place in the West.

Now the Cougars are off to Swift Current and will wrap up their six-game Saskatchewan road swing Saturday in Swift Current.