Cougars Defeat Warriors 5-2

Sunday, January 02, 2011 05:30 PM

The Prince George Cougars finished off a near perfect year against East Division teams, going 5-1-0-0 on the strength of a 5-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars were playing their first game of 2011 and were coming off a 5-0 shut-out win over the Chilliwack Bruins on December 29, backstopped by a 22 save performance by James Priestner. The Cougars and Warriors were getting together for the only time this season. The Cougars would get the ice-breaker on the scoreboard on a shot from Charles Inglis. Inglis took the puck deep in the offensive zone then wired a wrist shot through Brandon Stone from the right wing for Inglis' 17th goal of the season, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead at 5:21. The Warriors came back 14 seconds later, when Joey Kornelson jumped on a loose puck in the crease, after it bounced off the end glass right in front of the Cougars goal to tie the game at one. But 62 seconds later, Taylor Stefishen would give the Cougars the lead back, fed by Spencer Asuchak in tight then beating Stone on the glove side for Stefishen's eighth goal of the season. Stefishen would get his second of the game later in the period on a power play, when he banged home a loose puck with 1:15 to play in the frame to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead through 20 minutes of play. Asuchak and James Dobrowolski earned assists on the goal. The Cougars out-shot the Warriors 12-7 in the first period.

The Warriors changed netminders to start the second period, with Thomas Heemskerk taking over. Inglis would get his second of the game at the 12:06 mark, backhanding home his 18th goal of the year. Inglis has a team leading six multi-goal games this season. Greg Fraser and Nick Buonassisi picked up assists on the goal and the Cougars would take their three goal lead to the dressing room. Prince George out-shot Moose Jaw 12-8 in the middle frame.

The Warriors cut the lead in half just 1:05 into the third, when Michal Hlinka stole the puck and beat Priestner by batting a rebound out of the air off his first attempt to make it 4-2 Cougars. But Buonassisi rounded out the scoring with his 13th goal of the year, sliding a back hand shot through Heemskerk's legs to make it 5-2 Cougars, which is how the game would end. Fraser and Inglis drew assists, with Inglis posting back-to-back three point games. Moose Jaw out-shot the Cougars 8-7 in the third, but Prince George had a 31-23 advantage in the game. Both teams had five power plays, with the Cougars getting the only goal on Stefishen's second marker of the game late in the first period.

Cougars first overall bantam Alex Forsberg played his first regular season WHL game and came close to scoring in the second period. Forsberg will remain with the team when the Cougars host the Vancouver Giants Friday and Saturday. The Cougars improve to 20-15-2-1 on the season. Puck drop for the Cougars and Giants on Friday is 7:00pm. Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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