The Prince George Cougars ended their six-game homestay in dramatic fashion.
For the first time in the 2019-20 season, the Cats were able to nab a shootout victory and it came at a point where they needed to get two points to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.
The 2-1 final over Seattle also marked the second time this year Prince George swept an opponent at the CN Centre, more than two months after winning their doubleheader against Kamloops on Nov. 22 and 23.
Taylor Gauthier provided several highlight-reel saves Wednesday night (Feb. 5), including one early in overtime when the Thunderbirds skated two-on-one to keep the Cougars alive.
Altogether, the 18-year-old stopped 34 of 35 shots on the evening, while Roddy Ross made 24 saves in his second consecutive start for Seattle.
Gauthier also stopped three of the four shooters he faced in the skills contest and watched his defenceman Cole Moberg pot the game-winning goal.
The Thunderbirds’ special teams got on the board first by scoring their third power-play marker of the midweek match-up with 107 seconds left in the opening frame.
Ilijah Colina broke loose in the T-Birds’ zone with seven minutes left in the second period to light his eighth lamp of the year, taking passes from Ryan Schoettler and Jack Sander to match his Cougars’ career-high set in 2017-18.
The 1-1 score stayed the same through the rest of regulation and overtime until Prince George went 2-1 in the shootout to win 2-1.
Vladislav Mikhalchuk found the open cage in the second round of the shootout before Moberg sealed the deal in round four.
The victory improves the Cats’ record to 16-26-3-4 for 39 points.
However, with Seattle nabbing a tally from the shootout loss, Prince George is now seven points back of the second wild-card spot.
The two teams will face each other a third time in six nights on Sunday (Feb. 9), 5:05 p.m. in Washington state.
The Cougars will take on the Giants in Vancouver the night before on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 7 p.m.
.@PGCougars earn both points in 2-1 shootout victory over Seattle to end 6-game homestand with a 4-2 record 😼 Taylor Gauthier stopped 34/35 for win #12, while Cole Moberg scored the skills-contest winner | #CityOfPG @TheWHL @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/BTvpYD3qU7
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) February 6, 2020
