Cougars Tripped In Shoot-Out 4-3 By Bruins

By 250 News

The Prince George Cougars finished their three games in three nights trip picking up a point in a 4-3 shoot-out loss to the Chilliwack Bruins Sunday.

The Cougars were coming off a hard fought 3-1 victory in Everett Saturday night and looking to win the season series with the Bruins, having already taken four of the first seven.  The Cougars jumped on the board first when Brett Connolly moved in on the left side and snapped a high shot over Lucas Gore's glove hand to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead at 3:39.  Taylor Stefishen picked up the only assist on Connolly's 38th goal of the year.  Connolly would bag his second goal with 1:30 left in the period, sliding a shot through the legs of Gore to put the Cougars up 2-0.  But the Bruins went to the power play not long after and Kevin Sundher put the hosts on the board, banging in a rebound in front of Ty Rimmer to cut the Cougars lead in half to 2-1.  The Cougars out-shot the Bruins 14-6 in the firster period.

The Bruins tied the game early in the second period at 3:25, when Robin Soudek fired a wrist shot from the right side off a face-off win in the Cougars zone through Rimmer's legs, knotting the game at two.  But the Cougars got the lead back at the six minute mark when Tayler Thompson poked home his own rebound past Gore for a 3-2 Cougars lead.  Thompson's second goal of the season was assisted by Wilson Dumais and the Cougars led 3-2 through two.  The shots were even in the second at 14 a side.

The only goal of the third period went to the Bruins, with Brandon Magee tapping in a loose puck around the Cougars goal at 10:31.  The game was bound for overtime with the Cougars out-shooting Chilliwack 16-15 in the third and 44-35 in regulation.

Neither team could score in overtime, which meant a shoot-out for the second straight meeting between the two teams.  Chilliwack had the first shot, but neither side could score in the first two rounds.  Rimmer stopped Sundher and Ryan Howse while Gore handled attempts from Acolatse and Connolly.  In the third round, Soudek went upstairs on Rimmer's glove side to break the ice in the shoot-out.  Charles Inglis looked to respond for the Cougars, but Gore kicked his attempt out with the right pad to seal the victory, giving the Bruins a 4-3 win.  The Cougars were 0-for-5 on the power play and the Bruins went 1-for-4.

The Cougars, now at 29-31-2-2, have a five point lead on the Bruins for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference and are getting set for the Spokane Chiefs Friday and Saturday at CN Centre.  Puck drop is 7:00pm and tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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