The Cariboo Cougars are back in the hunt for a playoff berth at the Circle K Classic.
They blanked Detroit Victory Honda 3-0 Saturday at the 32-team U18 hockey tournament in Calgary.
Jack Tidsbury broke a scoreless deadlock near the end of the second period and the Cougars got two more snipes in the third period. Blake Collison made it a 2-0 count 5:35 into the third and Jaxon Larmand scored his second of the tournament with two minutes left to seal the win.
The Cougars were outshot 11-4 in the third period and 30-18 in the game, but Jaxon Dikur was on top of his game, stopping all 30 shots to earn the shutout.
The 16-year-old Williams Lake product was a sixth-round draft pick of the Seattle Thunderbirds and has played in three WHL games this season.
A victory over Okotoks Beaumark Oilers on Sunday will guarantee the Cougars a top-two pool finish needed to advance. The Oilers, 4-2 winners Friday over Detroit, lost 6-3 Saturday to the Sioux Fall Power of South Dakota.
Cariboo opened with an 8-5 loss to Sioux Falls.
Sunday’s Cariboo-Okotoks game starts at 12:15 PT.
