After a stellar month of February , the Prince George Cougars picked up right where they left off to start the month of March. Wednesday night in Prince George, the Cougars earned their fourth straight victory and their sixth win in their last seven games, a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. Cal Babych had a goal and an assist for the Cougars while goaltender Ty Edmonds continued his recent stellar play making 34 saves on 36 Calgary shots. The Cougars became just the third team to hand Calgary a loss in their past 20 games.

Late in the first period Calgary went to the power play and made the Cougars pay. Jake Virtanen pounced on a Connor Rankin rebound and scooped a shot over the glove of Ty Edmonds and in for his 20^th of the season. After one period the Cougars trailed 11-7 on the shot clock and 1-0 on the scoreboard.

5:55 into the second, the Cougars found their equalizer. Zach Pochiro made a nifty cross-ice pass to Jansen Harkins who did the rest. The reigning Denny’s WHL Player of the Week skated down the left side, made a move to his backhand and beat Mack Shields in alone to tie the score. Harkins’ 20^th goal of the season was also his 75^th point.

Just a minute and 20 seconds later Aaron Macklin put the Cougars on top when he took a Cal Babych pass from in front of the Calgary net, and snuck a shot past Mack Shields on the short side. For Macklin it was his fifth of the season.

Prince George’s lead didn’t last long. Exactly two minutes later, Radel Fazleev tied the score off a shorthanded two-on-one rush. The import snuck a wrist shot underneath the cross bar and over the glove of Edmonds for his 18^th of the season.

The teams traded chances in the final minutes of the second, but both Edmonds and Shields held their ground, and the teams were even at two-apiece after 40 minutes.

The game’s final goal came just 20 seconds into the third, and it was a bizarre one. From his own side of center, Cougars captain Sam Ruopp cleared the puck out of his zone off of the right wing boards. Near the center ice line, the puck redirected off of Cal Babych along the boards and trickled towards Hitmen netminder Mack Shields. Shields attempted to poke the puck into the near corner, but instead the puck skipped past his stick and into the net through his legs to give the Cougars a 3-2 lead.

From there, Cougars netminder Ty Edmonds took over the game. He turned aside all 13 Calgary shots, including a breakaway save off of Adam Tambellini and a diving stick save off of Connor Ranking.

In the end, the Cougars were outshot 36-28, but held on for the 3-2 victory. Calgary went one-for-four on the power play while the Cougars went zero-for-two on their chances.

The victory for Prince George, coupled with the Giants loss in Kennewick moves the Cougars three points ahead of both the Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Giants for the third place playoff spot in the B.C. Division. It’s the Cougars fourth consecutive victory and sixth win in their last seven games altogether. Mark Holick’s team has secured at least a point in nine of their past 11 games dating back to February 6^th.

Next up for the Cougars: A potential playoff preview. This weekend at the CN Centre the Cougars will welcome the Victoria Royals for a double-header beginning Friday night.