Cougars Edge Bruins 4-3 Saturday

By 250 News

The Prince George Cougars earned their first win on the road in seven games, pulling out a 4-3 shoot-out victory in Chilliwack Saturday night.

The Cougars and Bruins were meeting for the seventh time this season, with the teams alternating wins and losses.  Both teams were coming off road games, with the Cougars falling 3-0 in Vancouver and the Bruins were victorious in Kamloops, 3-2 in overtime.  Saturday's showdown was the conclusion of a three game road trip for the Cougars.  The Cougars opened the scoring shorthanded in the opening period, when Taylor Stefishen stole the puck at the Bruins blue line and pulled away from Kevin Sundher.  Stefishen out-waited Lucas Gore and put home his 13th goal of the season at 10:13.  The Bruins would tie the game on another power play, with Ryan Howse beating James Priestner in tight.  It was 1-1 through one, with the Cougars out-shot 13-11 in the first period.

In the second period, Greg Fraser beat Gore high on the glove side at 3:47, giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead.  For Fraser, that was his 14th goal of the year, five of which against the Bruins.  Chilliwack tied the game at the five minute mark on a goal from Mitch Topping.  With the period coming to a close, Stefishen scored his second of the game with less than 10 seconds left, putting the Cougars up 3-2 heading for the intermission.  Greg Fraser and James Dobrowolski picked up assists on the goal.  The Cougars out-shot the Bruins 15-10.

In the third, the Bruins would get back on even terms with another power play goal from Robin Soudek, tying the game at three.  Although both teams came close to scoring the go-ahead goal, the game stayed tied through regulation time.  The shots were even as well at 33 a side.

The Cougars out-shot the Bruins 4-2 in overtime and despite golden scoring chances, the Cougars and Bruins were bound for a shoot-out.  The Cougars out-shot Chilliwack 37-35 in the game.  In the shoot-out, the Bruins shot first and Roman Horak and Troy Bourke were stopped in the first round.  Sundher and Sena Acolatse exchanged goals in the second round.  After Ryan Howse failed to score, Stefishen had a chance to win the game, but was stopped by Gore's right pad.  Brandon Manning and Charles Inglis were both turned away in the fourth round and Jamie Crooks was stopped by Priestner in the fifth round.  Nick Buonassisi, 1-for-1 in the shoot-out this season, stayed perfect when he went to the backhand and beat Gore on the glove side, giving the Cougars a 4-3 victory.  The Cougars improve to 23-21-2-1 on the season and have won all three of their shoot-out victories on the road.  It was Priestner's first shoot-out win.

The Cougars host the Kamloops Blazers Wednesday at CN Centre, starting at 7:00pm.  Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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