Savin Virk worked a little overtime and got to wear the hat.
The 17-year-old rookie right winger from Surrey collected the first hat trick of his WHL career, scoring on the first shot of overtime 37 seconds in to defeat the Prince George Cougars 4-3 Tuesday at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash.
Virk took a cross-ice feed from Jake Sloan and blasted it into the Cougars net to end it.
The Cougars (28-15-4-2) overcame a poor start and rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the third period to guarantee a point in the standings but fell further behind the Victoria Royals in the race for first place in the Western Hockey League’s BC Division.
Royals (28-14-3-5) hammered the Kelowna Rockets 7-3 Tuesday in Victoria and are now three points ahead of Prince George, having played one more game that the Cougars.
The Americans (24-20-4-1) scored on their first shot on the Cougar goal .Just 19 seconds into the game, Virk found the net behind Cooper Michaluk, making his first start in eight games.
Cruz Paveo also scored an early one, just past the three-minute mark, to make it 2-0.
The Cougars got settled after taking a timeout when Paveo scored and eventually got to goalie Lukas Matecha with six minutes gone in the first period. Carson Carels wired a slapper in from the left point for his fifth goal of the season.
In the second period the Cougars responded with a determined push that led to several quality chances and finally cashed one in, taking advantage of a Tri-City turnover as they tried to penetrate the Prince George zone.
Matteo Danis followed up on the play after Koehn Ziemmer took the puck to the Americans net on a 2-on-1 and while being checked from behind Danis slipped in the rebound for his second goal in two games.
The Americans retook the lead late in the period while the teams were skating 4-on-4. Virk one-timed a pass into the slot from former Cougar Carter MacAdams, who spotted his linemate in open ice while standing behind the goal line.
The Cougars tied it up after a face-off win from Lee Shurgot and ripped a long shot in to deadlock the game 3-3. The goal, at the 8:52 mark, was the third of the season for the 19-year-old defenceman.
Matecha made 39 saves as the game’s second star. The Cougars outshot the Americans 42-36.
Michaluk saved the point for the Cougars with 7:35 left in regulation time when he stuck out his trapper to make an impossible save after MacAdams set up Paveo on a 2-on-1 chance, which should get serious consideration from the league office for the save of-the-night highlight.
The Cougars won the other three games this season against the Americans. They overcame a 3-1 third-period deficit Dec. 11 in Kennewick to beat the Ams 4-3 in a shootout. Last weekend at CN Centre the Cats won both in regulation time, 4-3 and 5-2.
The Cats play Friday in Kelowna and wrap up their three-game trip Saturday against the Kamloops Blazers.
