Prince George Cougars 20-year-old Mack Shields has 59 career regular season victories in the WHL but few are going to feel as satisfying as the one he earned Tuesday night. Kody McDonald had a goal and two assist, Jesse Gabrielle added two goals of his own,  and Mack Shields turned aside 25 of the 27 shots he faced from his former team in a 5-2 Prince George Cougars victory over the Calgary Hitmen.

Before the game Shields said that all he cared about was securing two valuable points for his new team, and from the get go he was ready. Shields and his counterpart Lasse Petersen traded saves in the early stages and at the mid-way point of the first it was scoreless and each team had four shots on goal.

One of the early game highlights for the Cougars took place at the 3:17 mark when Jansen Harkins, the Cougars reigning MVP dropped the gloves with Calgary defenceman Michael Zipp. Harkins and Zipp traded shots before the officials separated them. It was Harkins’ second career WHL fight, and it got the Cougars bench going.

Prince George opened the scoring though at the 12:05 mark of the first when Brad Morrison buried a Chase Witala rebound on a power play. For Morrison it was his fourth of the season and it gave his team a lead that they would not relinquish. They outshot the Calgary Hitmen 12-9 in the first period and took the 1-0 lead into the break.

2:40 into the second, Cougars defenceman Tate Olson dropped the gloves with Calgary veteran Colby Harmsworth and once again the Cougars gained momentum from a scrap.

Kody McDonald extended the Cougars lead to 2-0 at the 9:50 mark when he roofed his first of the year over the left shoulder of Lasse Petersen. Shane Collins made a terrific play in the slot to keep the play alive for his team when he kicked the puck forward out of a scrum to the stick of McDonald who did the rest.

It was important goal because back came the Hitmen. While shorthanded, Travis Sanheim raced in on a two-on-one with Carsen Twarynski. Twarynski’s shot was stopped and so was Sanheim’s initial rebound chance. But Sanheim had the presence of mind to stick with it, and then scooped his second shot over the left pad of a sprawled Mack Shields to put Calgary on the board to make it 2-1.

Back came the Cougars though at the 17:40 mark. Bartek Bison made a terrific pass out of his own zone right onto the tape of the streaking Jesse Gabrielle who did the rest, sneaking a breakaway opportunity through the legs of Petersen and in to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead late in the second.

Halfway through the third, Colby McAuley and Jakob LaPointe dropped the gloves for their respective teams, and both combatants landed a series of blows before they were ultimately separated by the officials. Again, it was the Cougars who would come away with momentum following a tilt.

Kody McDonald got onto the score sheet for a second time in the game at the 12:57 mark of the third when he raced wide on the defender, and centered a perfect pass to Tyler Mrkonjic in front of the Calgary net, and the 19-year-old did the rest scooping his shot over Petersen’s right pad and in for his first of the season.

Travis Sanheim and Jesse Gabrielle would trade late goals for their respective teams in the final minutes of the game, but in the end the Cougars came away with the 5-2 victory. They outshot Calgary 40-27 in the process.

Kody McDonald finished the game with a goal and two assists while Jesse Gabrielle had two goals and Josh Anderson chipped in with two helpers. Prince George went one-for-four on the power play while the Hitmen went zero-for-one on their lone power play chance.

With the win the Cougars are now 4-4 and will look to end their six game homestand on a winning note on Wednesday when they clash with Calgary once again in a rematch at the CN Centre.