The Prince George Cougars have now recorded at least a point in seven of their nine February games. Friday night in Seattle the Prince George Cougars erased a 3-1 and a 4-3 deficit en route to a 5-4 overtime victory over the Thunderbirds. Jansen Harkins potted the overtime winner 33 seconds into the extra frame and added three assists. Zach Pochiro added two goals and two assists and Ty Edmonds made 32 saves to help the Cougars move to within a single point of third place in the B.C. Division.

Despite winning the game, the Cougars had a tough opening period. They were outshot 20-3 and were outscored 3-1.

After a fight-filled first half of the opening period the goals started coming fast and furious starting at the 13:01 mark. Jari Erricson redirected home a Josh Connolly point shot for his 20^th of the season to give the Cougars the 1-0 lead. For Jari Erricson it was his 100^th career point.

The lead would last all of 29 seconds. Back came the Thunderbirds at the 13:30 mark when Shea Theodore knocked home a Mathew Barzal pass for his 10^th of the season.

50 seconds later Cory Millette made it 2-1 for the Thunderbirds on a power play when he redirected home a Shea Thedore pass for his 18^th of the season.

Roberts Lipsbergs would add a power play marker at the 17:57 mark of the first to give Seattle a 3-1 lead, which they took into the first intermission. For the Cougars it was a frustrating period where they took five minor penalties, and managed to kill three of them.

The second period was almost a mirror opposite. The Cougars outshot Seattle 16-4 and outscored the T-Birds 3-1.

Thanks to a series of early minor penalties from Evan Wardley and a delay of game penalty to Jerret Smith put the Cougars on an extended five-on-three man advantage and they took full advantage. Zach Pochiro scored back-to-back goals 39 seconds apart to tie the game at three – Both goals were assisted by Harkins.

Late in the second Luke Osterman restored Seattles lead when he crashed the net hard and knocked home a Lane Pederson rebound for his second goal of the season.

Once again though the Cougars found an answer. Mere seconds after another power play expired, Cougars rookie forward Jordan Ross snuck into the left circle and beat Taran Kozun with a low shot for his first ever WHL goal. The Cougars were tied again.

After two, the shots were much closer at 24-19 favoring Seattle.

Neither team was able to score in the third, but both teams had their share of chances. Both Taran Kozun and Ty Edmonds were sharp making timely saves to keepo the game tied. Late in the third Seattle had a great chance to win the game, but Keegan Kolesar was unable to one-time home a Shea Theodore pass, and overtime would be required. For the Cougars it was an important single point as it meant that they would gain ground on a playoff spot in the West regardless of the final outcome.

Early in the overtime period the Cougars raced in on a three-on-two rush. Captain Sam Ruopp led the rush up ice and fed a pass to Zach Pochiro on the left wing. Pochiro’s shot was turned aside, but the rebound came right to the stick of Jansen Harkins who wired it home past a diving Kozun to give the Cougars the victory and an important second point.

For Jansen Harkins it was his first career WHL overtime winner. His three assists now put him at 54 on the season, five shy of a new single-season high for the Cougars franchise.

Between the pipes, Ty Edmonds put forth another strong outing for the Cougars making 32 saves on 36 shots faced. His February record is now 4-2-1-1 with a .921 save percentage and a 3.08 goals-against-average.

Special teams played a major role in the game as the Cougars went three-for-seven on the power play while the T-Birds went two-for-six on their chances.

The victory moves the Cougars record to 25-33-2-2. Their 54 points has them just one single point shy of the third playoff spot in the B.C. Division with 10 games left. Up next for the Cougars, a Saturday night showdown with the Everett Silvertips at the XFinity Center.