Americans Come Back From 2-0 Deficit, Win 3-2 Over Cougars

By 250 News

At even strength, the Prince George Cougars beat the Tri-City Americans 1-0 Friday.  But the Americans out-scored the Cougars 3-1 on power plays which turned out to be the difference in the game, as the Americans take all four meetings with Prince George, closing out the season series with a 3-2 win in Kennewick, WA.

After a two game win streak to kick off 2010, the Cougars were looking to halt a two game slide, coming off a 5-2 loss in Chilliwack Wednesday.  The Cougars had never held a lead over the Americans this season, but that changed mid-way through the first period.  Taylor Makin scored his seventh goal of the season at 9:42 to break the ice, with Alex Rodgers and James Dobrowolski getting assists on the goal.  Rodgers extended his point streak to five games with the helper and Makin earned his first goal since December 19.  Dallas Jackson had a great chance to give the Cougars a 2-0 first period lead when he was awarded a penalty shot at 14:32, but Americans starting goalie Alexander Pechurskiy came up with the stop, holding the Cougars lead at one goal, which it remained after 20 minutes.  The Cougars out-shot the Americans 9-6 in the opening frame.

The Cougars needed only 14 seconds of the second period to get that two goal lead, when Nick Buonassisi capitalized with a power play goal for his eighth marker of the season.  Dobrowolski earned his second assist of the game, the third time in the last four games that Dobrowolski has had two assists in a contest.  Jackson would extend his point streak to four games with an assist and the Cougars were up 2-0.  But the Americans would erase the lead later in the period with a pair of power play goals.  Justin Feser found the back of the net behind Alex Wright at 5:32 with his 19th goal of the season, then Adam Hughesman notched his 15th tally of the year with just 1:04 left in the second period.  After 40 minutes, the Cougars and Americans were tied at two, with the Cougars out-shooting the Americans again in the middle stanza, 11-10.

The Cougars went back to the penalty kill at 7:47 of the third period and for the third consecutive time, the Americans would get a power play goal.  Kruise Reddick scored what turned out to be the game winner at 8:09 for his 13th goal of the season and a 3-2 Tri-City lead and eventual win.  Neither team killed off a power play, with the Americans going 3-for-3 and the Cougars 1-for-1 with the man-advantage.  The Americans out-shot the Cougars 10-6 in the third and the two teams were even in shots for the game at 26 a side.  That is the first time all season the Cougars and their opponent were even in shots at the end of a game.  The Americans swept the season series for a second consecutive season and improve their Western Conference leading record to 30-10-0-1, the first team in the WHL to reach 30 victories.  The Cougars fall to 9-31-1-1.

Next up for Prince George are the Seattle Thunderbirds, the second meeting of the season between the two clubs, which goes Saturday at Showare Center.  That will be the final game before the Sunday trade deadline, which hits at 2:00 Pacific Time.  The Cougars will open a seven game home stand against the Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday, January 13, with puck drop at 7:00.  Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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