The empty seats still outnumber full ones three to one in CN Centre, but that could change once the secret's out.
The Prince George Cougars are no longer the pushovers they were last season and are setting the pace for goal-scoring this season in the Western Hockey League.
The Cats made that point known to the Tri-City Americans, putting on an explosive display of offence in front of a sparse crowd of 1,908 Saturday night at CN Centre to defeat the visitors 8-3.
Forward Charles Inglis, and defencemen Martin Marincin and Sena Acolatse each scored twice as the Cougars exacted revenge against an Americans team that beat them 7-3 on Friday.
Marincin, an 18-year-old native of Slovakia, collected his second of the night with a long wrist shot through a screen midway through the second period after Brett Connolly won the face-off in the Tri-City end. The Cougars picked Marincin with the first-overall pick in the 2010 CHL import draft, a right they earned for having the worst record in all of major junior hockey last season. He now has six goals and seven assists in 12 games with the Cougars.
Connolly's assist, his only point Saturday, kept his point streak alive. Although he failed to score, ending his goal streak at seven games, the Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick now has at least one point in all 13 games the Cougars have played this season. He now has 13 goals and eight assists in 2010-11.
James Priestner was stellar in net for the Cougars, making 29 saves.
The Cougars built a 4-0 lead and that chased goalie Drew Owsley to the bench 12:21 into the first period in favour of 16-year-old rookie Chris Driedger. Owsley, a 19-year-old from Lethbridge, allowed four goals on 12 shots. The Cougars got four more past Driedger on 29 shots.
Greg Fraser and rookie Troy Bourke were the other goalscorers for Prince George. Zachary Yuen, Jason Holland and Mason Wilgosh, with his first point of the season, replied for the Americans.
The Cougars led 4-0 after one period, 7-1 after 40 minutes. They are averaging 4.6 goales per game, tops in the WHL.
The Cougars (7-5-1-0) remained tied with Kamloops (7-6-0-1) for second in the B.C. Division. The Blazers beat the Hitmen 3-2 in Calgary on Saturday. The Cougars and Blazers are three points behind the first-place Vancouver Giants, who improved to 8-5-1-1 with a 3-1 win over the Everett Silvertips.
KITTY LITTER: The game was stopped with 3:07 left in the second period when Cougars winger Jaroslav Vlach shattered the glass behind the Tri-City net with a high shot. Goal judge Wayne Ridsdale was caught in the line of fire and suffered a serious gash on his head which required a trip to hospital for stitches.
