Cougars find winning touch as they douse Blazers 5-1

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Prince George still looking for their first win against Kamloops this season, and Tyson Upper got the Cats off to a good start. 10:17 in the 1st period, the 19-year-old found his second of the season, beating Dylan Ernst to get PG up on the board first.

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Goaltender Taylor Gauthier was kept busy in the opening period, facing 17 shots from the Blazers and turning away each one.

Prince George carried the 1-0 lead into the dressing room following the opening 20 minutes of play.

In the 2nd period, the Cats added to their score. Ethan Samson collected the puck at the top of the offensive zone before rifling the long wrist shot past Ernst. The goal goes down as Samson’s first of the shortened season.

After a charging call to Jonny Hooker, the Cougars found themselves shorthanded against the Kamloops’ powerplay. Entering the game, the Blazers had the 6th best powerplay in the WHL, but the Cats weren’t biting.

After blocking a shot attempt, Keaton Dowhaniuk hustled into transition as he and Upper came in on a 2-on-1. Dowhawniuk gathered the pass from Upper and made a move to find twine, pushing the Cats lead to 3-0.

The goal was Dowhaniuk’s 3rd of the season and the 4th shorthanded goal this season by Prince George.

Prince George carried the 3-0 lead into the 3rd period as Gauthier continued to backstop the effort. After 40 minutes, the Cats’ starter faced 31 shots.

After Jack Sander got sent to the box after closing his hand on the puck, the Blazers capitalized on the man advantage just 19 seconds into the powerplay. Originally credited to Quinn Schmiemann, but later awarded to Josh Pillar as he tipped his teammate’s shot to get Kamloops on the board.

Just 17 seconds later, however, Connor Bowie re-established the Cats’ three-goal lead as he deked past Ernst before backhanding in his 6th of the season.

Frustrations began to surface and boil over for the Blazers as after-whistle antics became the norm as the game progressed. Much focused on Jonny Hooker following an unintentional charging call that resulted in Connor Zary leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.

Late in the 3rd, on the powerplay, Koehn Ziemmer found his 4th of the season to add some insurance to the Cougars lead. Keaton Dowhaniuk got his 3rd assist of the night on the play.

The 5-1 score would stand as time ran out, giving the Cougars their first win of the season against the Blazers.

Gauthier backstopped the strong effort, turning away 37 of the 38 shots he faced to earn his 4th win of the season.

The Cougars will be back in action on Friday when they face the Royals for the 2nd time this week, having defeated them 4-1 on Monday.