Cougars Open February With a 4-1 Win Over Edmonton

Friday, February 05, 2010 09:27 AM

Cougars goalie Hudson Stremmel was looking for some icing on top of his cake at the end of a victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings Friday night. Not only did the 18-year old turn away 33 of 34 shots he faced from Oil King shooters, Stremmel also added his first WHL point with an assist on an empty net goal by Tyler Halliday, which put the finishing touches on a 4-1 Cougars win over Edmonton to kick off a five game home stand at CN Centre for the Cougars.

Friday was also the start of a double-header between the Cougars and Oil Kings, as the teams will see each other three times in the next two weeks. The Oil Kings had ended a 16-game losing streak Sunday with an overtime victory over the Prince Albert Raiders, while the Cougars were looking to snap their season high 13 game skid. In the last 10 games, the Cougars were forced to come from behind by giving up the first goal, but on Friday it was the Cougars drawing first blood. On a power play, James Dobrowolski finished off the play when Alex Rodgers threw the puck on net from the blue line, which was blocked Oil Kings starter Cam Lanigan, followed by a shot from Nick Buonassisi that was left lying at the top of the Edmonton crease, out of reach for Lanigan. Dobrowolski picked up the biscuit and easily shovelled home his 13th goal of the season for a 1-0 Cougars lead at 15:09. The assist gives Rodgers a six game point streak, with nine points over that span, the longest streak for the Cougars this season. Shane Pilling, the Cougars fourth round pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft, was called up from the Lethbridge Titans of the Alberta Major Midget Hockey League and showed his offensive ability on the successful power play, making smart passes while showing tremendous poise for a player who hadn't played in the WHL since early October. The Cougars added to their lead a couple minutes later when defenceman Garrett Thiessen intentionally used the end boards to bounce the puck to the front of the net, that was eventually jammed home by Spencer Asuchak at 17:20. Asuchak's 8th goal of the season put the home side ahead 2-0, which the Cougars took to the dressing room after 20 minutes. The Cougars out-shot the Oil Kings 21-10, the most shots the Cougars have had in a period this season.

The Cougars added to their lead at 8:29 of the second period with another power play goal. Parker Stanfield took a pass on the left wing and fired a feed to the goal that went off Lanigan, bounced to Asuchak, who alertly kicked the puck to Clarke Breitkreuz at the side of the Cougars goal. Breitkreuz lifted the puck over Lanigan's right pad and under the bar for a 3-0 Cougars lead. That spelled the end of the night for Lanigan, who stopped 25 of 28 shots before getting the hook. Torrie Jung took over in goal for Edmonton. Exactly 10 minutes after Breitkreuz's 3rd goal of the season on the power play, the Oil Kings struck with a power play marker of their own. Former Vancouver Giant Garry Nunn fired a cross-ice pass to Michael St. Croix, who shot home his 12th of the season to cut the Cougars lead to 3-1 with 91 seconds left in the second period. The Cougars out-shot the Oil Kings 13-11 in the middle frame.

The Oil Kings had the advantage in shots in the final 20 minutes of regulation, but the Cougars would get the only goal. With Jung on the bench, the Oil Kings were looking for their second goal of the night when Stremmel gloved down a shot in his crease, then quickly put the puck on the ice and tried to loft a shot for the open goal. While the attempt was knocked down by an Oil Kings defender, Halliday picked up the puck and scored his first goal since re-joining the Cougars on January 10 and his 8th goal of the season. That would wrap up the 4-1 victory for Prince George, with Stremmel getting the lone helper and his 5th win of the season. The Cougars were out-shot in the final period 13-6, but the Cougars got more rubber to the net, with a margin of 40-34. The Cougars begin February like they did January, with a win, and will try to make it back-to-back victories over Edmonton Saturday. The Cougars will be in Edmonton on February 20.

Puck drop for Saturday's game is 7:00 with tickets available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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