The Prince George Cougars are making noise in the B.C. Division and it’s disturbing the peace for their Western Hockey League opponents.
The Cats went into Kamloops Friday and beat the Blazers in their own rink for the second time in less than a week. They knocked off the No.5-ranked team in Canada 5-2 for their fifth-straight win.
Craig Armstrong scored the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner on a breakaway, 6:43 into the third period, and Ethan Samson and Riley Heidt padded the lead in the late stages with empty-net goals.
The win improved the Cougars’ record to 13-14-0-0, while the Blazers lost for only the third time on home ice to drop to 19-7-0-0. Prince George is now within a point of the Kelowna Rockets/Vancouver Giants for second place in the B.C. Division. The Cougars won 3-2 in Kamloops last Saturday.
“I really think this is our win of the year, thus far,” said Cougars associate coach Josh Dixon. “To beat this team for a second time n as many games against them on the road and really having to overcome a back-and-forth game where we score and they come right back at us. They got the pressure on us at times but it wasn’t a game where we held on, it wasn’t a game where we got lucky bounces and snuck one out. We were, I believe, full marks for the win and we really looked like a team getting the job done here tonight.”
The Cougars never trailed in this one. Rookie Ryker Singer opened the scoring 17:37 into the third period with a shot from the slot to beat goalie Dylan Ernst. Caeden Bankier tied it for the Blazers with four seconds left in the period and it remained a deadlock until Cougar winger Blake Eastman tipped in a pass from the side boards from linemate Jonny Hooker. Kamloops took advantage of a power play 13 minutes into the second period and Connor Levis scored on a rebound for a 2-2 tie.
Taylor Gauthier made 38 saves to improve his season record to 7-5, in front of 3,170 witnesses at Sandman Centre. The Cougars were outshot 40-35.
The Cougars’ forward line of Armstrong-Heidt-Koehn Ziemmer continued to produce offence. That trio combined for 12 points in Wednesday’s 7-3 win over the Vancouver Giants and they had four more points in Friday’s game. Ziemmer was held off the scoresheet after striking for two goals and four assists Wednesday.
The Cougars play Saturday night in Langley (7 p.m., 94.3 FM, The Goat), where they’ll try to improve on their 3-2 record against the Giants head-to-head this season.
