Cougars Split Weekend Series With Vancouver, Win 7-5 Saturday

By 250 News

In a first place showdown at CN Centre Saturday night, there were 12 goals and two goalie changes.  In the end, the Cougars would take over sole possession of first in the BC Division with a 7-5 victory over the Vancouver Giants, splitting the weekend doubleheader.

The Cougars were coming off a hard fought 4-3 loss Friday, putting the Cougars and Giants both at 43 points on the season to lead the BC division.  The Cougars would open the scoring just 22 seconds into the game, with Brett Connolly firing home his 24th goal of the season over Mark Segal's glove hand.  James Dobrowolski and Cody Carlson earned assists on the goal.  Then at 4:01, Martin Marincin fed Taylor Makin in the slot, who fired home his fourth of the year to put the Cougars up 2-0.  Jesse Forsberg also got an assist and the Giants spent their time-out after the goal.  That sparked the visitors, who took over the play and were rewarded with a power play goal from Brendan Gallagher at 14:54.  Then Michael Burns socred on a rebound to tie the game at two at the 16:20 mark.  But just 30 seconds later, Spencer Asuchak rifled home his 14th goal of the season to put Prince George back in front 3-2.  Brock Hirsche and Troy Bourke would pick up helpers.  Then Dobrowolski would score a Cougars power play goal with 27 seconds left in the period, banging a one-time shot past Segal for his 11th of the year and a 4-2 Cougars lead.  Prince George was out-shot 12-8 in the period.

Vancouver changed goalies, with Brendan Jensen taking over in goal for Segal and the Giants scored early in the second period, when Spencer Bennett cut the Cougars lead to 4-3 at 1:06.  But Connolly would get his second goal of the game, taking a feed on the left wing side and firing a shot past Jensen for his 25th of the season at 3:33 to give the Cougars a 5-3 lead.  Cody Carlson and Taylor Stefishen would pick up the assists on the goal.  But Nathan Burns scored a power play goal at 7:30 and Teal Burns beat Rimmer for a short handed goal at 9:32 to tie the game at five and end Rimmer's night, allowing five goals on 22 shots.  James Priestner took over in net for the Cougars and there was no more scoring in the frame, with the teams headed to the dressing room's tied at five.  Vancouver out-shot the Cougars 19-11 in the middle stanza.

Priestner, who had been pulled the night before early in the second period, made amends with key stops early in the third to keep the game tied.  Then at 10:33 with the Cougars on a power play, Sena Acolatse was stopped by Jensen in front of the Giants goal, but retained possession of the puck.  The Cougars defenceman went around the goal and made a pass to Stefishen that went off his stick to Dobrowolski, who rifled home his second of the game and 12th of the season to put the Cougars back in front 6-5.  The Cougars iced the game when Brock Hirsche scored an empty net goal with a half minute to go in regulation time, assisted by Asuchak who banked the puck out of the Cougars goal off the glass, allowing Hirsche to race up to it and put the finishing touches on a 7-5 Cougars win.  The Cougars earn the first home victory of the season series, improving their record to 21-16-2-1, two points ahead of the now 19-18-1-4 Giants and one up on the Kelowna Rockets, who earned an 8-1 win over Kamloops Saturday.  The Cougars were out-shot in the third period 11-9 and 42-28 in the game.  Prince George was 2-for-5 on the power play and the Giants went 2-for-3.

The Cougars improve their record to 6-2-1-1 in the second game of a doubleheader when losing the first game.  The Cougars are also 9-3-1-1 on Saturday nights.  The Cougars will hit the road for the first time in a month when they square off with the Giants for a third straight game on Tuesday night.  The Cougars will hit Chilliwack Wednesday and then return home next weekend for back-to-back games with the Bruins on January 14 and 15.  Puck drop is 7:00pm at CN Centre and tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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