Cougars Upended 5-2 In Chilliwack

By 250 News

The Prince George Cougars are coming home looking to return the favour to the Chilliwack Bruins Friday and Saturday, after the Bruins opened three straight games between the two rivals with a 5-2 win Wednesday night.

The Cougars and Bruins were meeting for the fourth time this season, with the Cougars taking two of the first three games and all three contests won by shut-outs.  James Priestner had earned both blankings for the Cougars on November 24 and December 29, and he faced Lucas Gore Wednesday, who collected the Bruins shut-out win on December 28.  The Bruins opened the scoring in the first period when Kevin Sundher tipped home a pass in front of the Cougars net at 11:09.  Roman Horak added to the lead at 15:48, snapping shot from the slot home for a 2-0 Bruins lead through 20 minutes.  The Bruins out-shot the Cougars 12-6.

The Cougars cut the lead in half early in the second period, when Greg Fraser beat Gore low on the glove side from the left wing for Fraser's 12th goal of the season.  Troy Bourke, who tipped the puck to Fraser at the Bruins line, and Martin Marincin picked up the assists on the goal, which came at the 2:35 mark.  But Blair Wentworth gave the Bruins a two goal lead again when he scored at 13:41.  The Cougars trailed 3-1 after two and were out-shot 13-9 in the second.

The Bruins put the game out of reach in the third with goals from Jesse Zgraggen and Ryan Howse just 92 seconds apart near the mid-way point of the third.  Priestner was pulled, bringing Ty Rimmer into the game after 30 Bruins shots.  Fraser ended the scoring with a Cougars power play goal at 13:09, banging home a rebound off a James Dobrowolski try at the side of the Bruins goal.  Dobrowolski extended his point streak to six, with a four goals and nine points over that span.  Taylor Stefishen also earned an assist, giving the 20-year old four assists in the last three games.  The Bruins, though, cruised to a 5-2 victory, dropping the Cougars record to 21-18-2-1, while the Bruins impove to 19-18-2-1.  The Bruins out-shot the Cougars 10-9 in the third and 34-25 in the game, helped out by the fact the Bruins got in the way of many Cougars shots in the game.  The bright spot for the Cougars was their penalty kill, which was 10-for-10, including a 5-on-3 power play that lasted over a minute.  The Cougars were 1-for-6

The Cougars host the Bruins Friday and Saturday at CN Centre, starting at 7:00pm both nights.  Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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