Lincoln Edwards denied the Cariboo Cougars a victory on outdoor ice.
On Saturday night at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena in Fort St. James, Edwards scored at 1:23 of a five-minute overtime session to give the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds a 3-2 decision in the BC Elite Hockey League Winter Classic.
The U18 Cougars had a 2-1 lead after two periods but Darius Bachler netted an equalizer half way through the third.
Cariboo forward Max Sanford scored the only goal of the first period. Alyandro De Leon drew the Thunderbirds even in the second before Decker Mujcin restored the Cariboo lead with a shorthanded marker at 13:55.
Bachler’s tying goal sent the game to overtime, where Edwards played hero.
Trevor Agnew picked up the win for the T-birds and Tysen Smith took the loss.
In a high-scoring Sunday rematch at the Fort Forum, the Thunderbirds outgunned the Cougars 10-6. The T-birds led 3-2 after the first period and 9-6 after a wild second. In the middle frame, Fraser Valley scored five consecutive goals for an 8-2 lead, only to see Cariboo shooters fight back with four straight.
Cariboo marksmen were Pryce Peats, Carter Hesselgrave, Keenan Holland, Tye Peters, Marik Mamic and Mujcin. Fraser Valley goals came off the sticks of Tyler Pretty (2), Matteo Speranza (2), Brendan Ruskowski, De Leon, Gavin Giesbrecht (2), Cale Colwell and Antonio Bevacqua.
Nicholas Cristiano (Thunderbirds) and Damien Knackstedt (Cougars) were the starting goaltenders.
The Thunderbirds outshot the Cougars 47-30.
Fraser Valley improved to 14-8-3-1 and is fourth in the 10-team division. The Cougars (11-11-1-3) are fifth.
The Cougars are scheduled to be in North Vancouver this coming Saturday and Sunday for games against the third-place Vancouver Northwest Hawks (17-5-1-1).
