Dmitri Yakutsenak celebrates one of his three goals on Nov. 21. (Image Credit: Prince George Cougars)

By Victor Kaisar

Cougars 6 Hurricanes 2

Yakutsenak’s hat trick powers Cougars to victory over Hurricanes

Nov 22, 2025 | 9:36 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — Dmitri Yakutsenak’s first career hat trick powered the Prince George Cougars to a 6-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday (Nov. 21) night at the CN Centre.

The 18-year-old Russian helped the Cougars to their fourth win of the season, as Ukranian goaltender Alex Levshyn also played his part with 24 saves on 26 shots as he made his return to the crease following a month-long injury layoff.

Yakutsenak opened the scoring at CN Centre just 42 seconds into the opening frame when he finished off a two-on-one feed from Brock Souch.

Carson Carels doubled the lead with a wrist shot at 2:48 before a pair from Yakutsenak and Terik Parascak just 15 seconds apart had the Cougars up 4-0 less than five minutes into the game.

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Enter Leif Oaten in relief after the Hurricanes pulled starter Koen Cleaver after he allowed four goals on just five shots. Oaten stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief.

The Hurricanes struck twice on the power play – courtesy Kayden Longley in the first and Owen Berge in the second – to come back to within two goals, but Yakutsenak snuffed out a potential comeback attempt on the power play with two seconds in the period.

Lee Shurgot the sealed the win with the only goal of the third period. He scored shorthanded into an empty net with a little over four minutes left to play.

The Cougars are back in action this evening (Nov. 22) against the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. It’s Cougars Fight Cancer Night at CN Centre with the puck drop scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

The Cougars will wear special black and pink jerseys, and there is a Mega 50/50 Jackpot with a guaranteed jackpot of $50,000.