The Prince George Cougars defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-2 Tuesday night at CN Centre in Prince George, British Columbia.
This was the first of two games between the T-Birds and Cougars. They meet for a second time at 7 p.m. Wednesday at CN Centre.
Prince George (26-15-1-1) took a 1-0 lead at 4:06 of the first period. Chase Witala’s shot was stopped by goalie Logan Flodell but the puck rebounded off a T-Bird defenseman and into the goal. Joe Carvalho had the only assist on the goal.
Seattle (22-15-3-0) tied the game 1-1 at 13:26 of the first. A Prince George clearing from behind their net bounced awkwardly off the end boards and right to Mathew Barzal at the bottom of the left circle. Barzal cut through the crease all alone, getting Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds to go down, and slid the puck under the goalie for his 12th goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Prince George 11-7 in the first period.
Kody McDonald scored 38 seconds into the second period to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead. Tate Olson and Bartek Bison had the assists.
McDonald got his second of the night at 18:42 of the second to make it a 3-1.
The Cougars outshot the T-Birds 12-7 in the second period and led 19-18 in shots after two periods.
Harkins was awarded a penalty shot at 4:13 of the third period when he was tied up from behind on a breakaway. Harkins converted on the penalty shot beating Flodell with a wrist shot from the slot.
McDonald made it a hat trick when he scored 30 seconds after Harkins to make it a 5-1 Prince George lead. Harrison and Sam Ruopp were credited with the assists.
The T-Birds replaced Flodell with Landon Bow after the fifth Cougars goal. Flodell made 17 saves on 22 shots and his record is now 13-11-3-0 with the loss.
T-Birds captain Jerret Smith scored at 9:28 of the third to get the T-Birds’ second goal. Smith’s six goal of the season was unassisted.
Tate Olson scored an unassisted shorthanded empty-net goal at 18:29 of the third for the sixth Cougars goal.
The Cougars outshot the T-Birds 10-9 in the third period and 29-27 in the game.
Bow stopped all six shots he faced.
Edmonds had 25 saves on 27 shots and his record is now 14-8-1-0.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Prince George, Witala 26 (Carvalho), 4:06. 1, Seattle, Barzal 12, 13:26. Penalties – McAuley, PG (major-fighting, game misconduct), :11. Kolesar, Sea (major-fighting, game misconduct), :11. Gabrielle, PG (delay of game), 7:42. Hauf, Sea (tripping), 15:01. Witala, PG (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:31. Eansor, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:31.
Second period – 3, Prince George, McDonald 9 (Olson, Bison), :38. 4, Prince George, McDonald 10 (Harrison, Harkins), 18:42. Penalties – Gropp, Sea (high-sticking), 2:41. Bench, PG (too many men-served by Bethune), 4:15.
Third period – 5, Prince George, Harkins 11, 4:13 (ps). 6, Prince George, McDonald 11 (Harrison, Ruopp), 4:43. 7, Seattle, Smith 6, 9:28. 8, Prince George, Olson 4, 18:29 (sh/en). Penalties – Ruopp, PG (holding), 1:03. Dosanjh, PG (interference), 7:31. Eansor, Sea (goaltender interference), 7:56. Witala, PG (slashing), 16:35. Eansor, Sea (roughing), 17:46. McDonald, PG (roughing), 17:46. Johnson, PG (holding), 19:08.
Shots on goal – Seattle 11-7-9 27, Prince George 7-12-10 29. Goalies – Seattle, Flodell 22 shots-17 saves (13-11-3-0), Bow 6-6; Prince George, Edmonds 27-25 (14-8-1-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-6; Prince George 0-2. A – 2,351. Referees – Mark Pearce, Colin Watt. Linesmen – Ron Dietterle, Tom Henetiuk.
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