The Prince George Cougars are off to Moose Jaw with a single point in their pockets after a back-and-forth affair with Swift Current. Friday night at the Credit Union I-Plex, the Cougars dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Swift Current Broncos. Jamal Watson ended the game 1:52 into the extra period after Broncos forward Jon Martin scored his league leading 32^nd of the season with under three minutes remaining to tie the score at three. Chase Witala had two goals for the Cougars while Jesse Gabrielle had two assists.

Heading into Friday’s matchup the Cougars power play was red hot having gone eight for it’s last 20, and on their first opportunity of the night the Cougars power play players took advantage. At 6:19 of the first Chase Witala one-timed home a Tate Olson pass from the top of the right circle and past Taz Burman for his 29^th of the season. 

Swift Current responded at 9:47 when Sahvan Khaira’s shot from the right point snuck it’s way through traffic and past Ty Edmonds for his first of the season. 

Period one ended tied 1-1 with the Broncos holding a 12-10 lead in the shots category. 

Neither team was able to score in the middle frame as both Ty Edmonds and Taz Burman made timely stops for their respective teams, but early in the third the Broncos were awarded a power play and made good on their opportunity.  3:56 into the final period Max Lajoie scored his sixth of the season off a shot from the left point to give the home side their first lead of the game. 

Back came the Cougars though 39 seconds later when Chase Witala’s shot from the right wing switched directions before ending up past Burman. Witala becomes the second Cougar to pot 30 goals, and now sits just two goals shy of setting a new franchise record for career goals by a Prince George Cougar. 

Brogan O’Brien put the Cougars back ahead just under three minutes later off a three-on-two rush. The rookie forward from Prince George now has 14 goals on the season. 

Through 40-plus minutes the Cougars did a great job of containing Broncos forward Jon Martin who coming into the game was tied with Cougars forward Jesse Gabrielle for the league lead in goals. Late in the third though, Martin carried the puck across the Cougars blue line on a two-on-one rush and snuck a shot past Ty Edmonds and home for goal number 32, and with just 2:38 remaining in the game the game was tied 3-3. 

The final 2:38 solved nothing, but Swift Current did receive a power play chance with 1:09 left. Fortunately the Cougars were able to stand their ground, and grabbed a single point by forcing overtime for a fifth time this season. 

Swift Current didn’t score on their 51 seconds of power play time to start overtime, but a minute later the game ended when Jamal Watson raced down the right wing on a two-on-two and then snapped a shot past Ty Edmonds and home for his ninth of the season giving the Broncos the extra point and a 4-3 victory. 

Swift Current outshot the Cougars 34-32 and went one-for-six on their power play chances. The Cougars conversely went one-for-four on the power play. 

Friday’s loss marks just the fourth road loss in the Cougars last 14 road games. Their overall record now sits at 29-18-2-1. 

Next the Cougars are in Moose Jaw for a Saturday matchup with the Warriors, who are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers.