A three game road trip that started with two disappointing games had a phenomenal finish for the Prince George Cougars. Saturday night in Portland, the Prince George erased a 4-2 third period deficit to earn a 6-5 shootout victory over the Portland Winterhawks. Chase Witala paced the Cougars offense with two goals, and Zach Pochiro had the shootout winner along with a goal in regulation for Prince George. Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists in response for Portland. It was also a record-breaking game for Cougars forward Jansen Harkins who became the Cougars brand new single season assists leader with his 59^th of the season.

Early in the first the Winterhawks took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal when Miles Koules jammed home a Keegan Iverson rebound at the side of the Cougars goal. For Koules it was his 26^th of the season.

Despite surrendering the early goal, the Cougars responded well. They outplayed and outshot the Winterhawks in the first period, but Portland netminder Evan Johnson had an answer for all 16 Cougar shot attempts, and Portland took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

40 seconds into the second period the Cougars tied the game when Chase Witala deflected a Sam Ruopp point shot past Johnson for his 36^th goal of the season and his first of two on the night.

Portland regained the lead at the 8:47 mark when Nic Petan converted off an Oliver Bjorkstrand pass for his 13^th of the season. Evan Weinger then buried his seventh of the season at 12:27 to increase Portland’s lead to 3-1.

At 14:23 of the second the Cougars got back within a goal when Kody McDonald took an Aaron Boyd pass, skated in alone and snuck a backhand past the stick of Evan Johnson and in for his eighth of the season.

The second period ended with Portland leading 3-2 but the Cougars still led in the shots department: 31-23.

Just a minute and 17 seconds into the third period during a power play, Portland regained their two goal lead when Chase De Leo buried his 35^th of the season past a diving Ty Edmonds.

Credit to the Cougars though who stuck with it and would eventually get rewarded. First it was Chase Witala at the 7:43 mark of the third who crashed the Portland net hard, and was able to knock home a Sam Ruopp rebound through the pads of Johnson and in for his 37^th. Jansen Harkins also had an assist on that goal giving him 59 assists on the season – A new single season franchise record for the Prince George Cougars.

Then just over two minutes later the Cougars tied the game at four when David Soltes buried a low shot through the legs of Johnson. For David Soltes it was his 12^th of the season, and his second goal in as many games.

At 14:01 of the third period the Cougars completed their comeback when Zach Pochiro pounced off a Portland turnover in front of the Winterhawk net. He spun his body around and wired a wrist shot past the blocker of Johnson for his 18^th of the season. It was the first lead of the game for the Cougars but it wouldn’t last long.

Two minutes and 14 seconds later the WHL goal scoring leader Oliver Bjorkstrand snuck a high shot over the glove of Ty Edmonds and in for his 56^th of the season, and the game was once again tied.

Late in the third the Winterhawks had two great chances to score, but Ty Edmonds made a timely save off of Miles Koules, and in the final seconds Evan Weinger was denied by the left Cougars goal post.

For the eight time this season, overtime would be required for the Cougars. The teams traded chances early in the overtime frame, but both Evan Johnson and Ty Edmonds did their part to keep the game tied. Late in overtime Portland had a terrific chance, but Chase De Leo was robbed in the final seconds by Ty Edmonds, and for a fifth time in 2014-15 the Cougars would need a shootout to decide the outcome of a game.

Chase De Leo led off the shootout for Portland and was denied by the stick of Edmonds. David Soltes had the first Cougars chance and made a nice move to the five-hole, but Johnson shut the door.

Next up was Oliver Bjorkstrand for Portland, but his backhand deke was stopped by the right pad of Edmonds, but Evan Johnson returned the favor when he made a stick save off of Jansen Harkins of Prince George.

Dominic Turgeon kicked off round three for Portland, but once again Ty Edmonds had the answer as he once again made a save with his pad off of Turgeon who came in close.

That left the game in the hands of Zach Pochiro. The 20-year-old Cougars forward skated slowly down the middle and ripped a wrist shot underneath the blocker of Evan Johnson and in for secure the Cougars 29^th victory of the season.

The final shot total had Prince George ahead by a 48-37 margin. The Cougars went zero-for-three on the power play while Portland went two-for-two.

For the Cougars their record now improves to 29-35-2-3.  Their victory coupled with both the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans losing in regulation moves the Cougars back into sole possession of third place in the B.C. Division and seventh place in the Western Conference playoff standings.

Now with three games remaining in their regular season, the Cougars can clinch at least a tie for third place in the B.C. Division with a victory against the Kamloops Blazers Wednesday in the first of three straight meetings between the two clubs.