After dropping their first four meetings of the season against Kamloops the Prince George Cougars have now rattled off three consecutive victories against their B.C. Division rivals, the latest of which was a 9-4 triumph on Friday night. In front of 3200-plus the Prince George Cougars scored four goals in both the second and third periods to secure their 28^th victory of the season. Colby McAuley had two goals and two assists for the Cougars while seven other players recorded multi-point games. Deven Sideroff had a goal and two assists in response for Kamloops.

Despite the 13 total goals there was only one goal scored in period one and it might have been the prettiest. At 6:27 Jansen Harkins ripped his 12^th of the season over the left shoulder of Connor Ingram and in. The play started when Brad Morrison raced across the blueline, spun off a Kamloops defender, and from his stomach he managed to deliver a perfect pass to Harkins who did the rest. The shots were 10-10 after one with the Cougars on top by a goal.

Period two featured seven goals combined between the two clubs. First it was Kamloops who tied the game just 24 seconds in when Deven Sideroff snuck a wrist shot past Ty Edmonds. Garrett Pilon then gave Kamloops a brief lead at 6:57, but just 12 seconds later Shane Collins answered with a goal for the Cougars to tie the score.

A shorthanded marker from Brogan O’Brien helped lift the Cougars back into the lead at 11:05 and seconds later the tone of the game changed in a big way.

Seconds after the O’Brien goal, Blazers goaltender Connor Ingram and Cougars forward Jesse Gabrielle were involved in a collision. Gabrielle was penalized two minutes and Ingram left the game with an injury and did not return. In came Blazers backup Dylan Ferguson for his 12^th appearance of the season and it sparked the Blazers as Gage Quinney scored 38 seconds later on the ensuing power play to tie the score at three.

Jansen Harkins and Colby McAuley scored 17 seconds apart though in the final minute of the second period to help push the Cougars into their third and final lead of the night. Shots were 26-21 Kamloops through two but the Cougars led 5-3.

One minute in the third Matt Revel struck for Kamloops to move them back within a goal but that’s as close as the Blazers would get. Chase Witala, Colby McAuley, Bartek Bison and Joel Lakusta would all score in the final half of the third period to lift the Cougars to a 9-4 victory. Witala’s 28^th moves him within four goals of surpassing Eric Hunter for the all-time Cougars goal scoring record and Joel Lakusta’s goal marked his first ever in the Western Hockey League.

The final shots favored the Cougars 36-32. Prince George went one-for-two on the power play while the Blazers went one-for-five.

With the win the Cougars are now 28-17-1-1 and 16 points ahead of their pace from a season ago. The win also moves them to within a single point of second place in the B.C. Division. The Cougars will look to leapfrog the Victoria Royals tonight when they once again clash with the Kamloops Blazers at CN Centre.