The Kamloops Blazers are still perfect in their season series with the Prince George Cougars but unlike their previous three Cougar encounters, this one went down to the wire.
Jake Kryski avoided a poke-check attempt from Cougars goalie Nick McBride and wired a shot into the net for the only goal of the shootout to give the Blazers a 4-3 victory in front of 3,256 witnesses at CN Centre.
Connor Ingram made 44 saves and three more in the shootout, denying Brogan O'Brien, Jesse Gabrielle and Chase Witala to complete an impressive comeback for the visitors, who overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period.
The first three of 10 games this season against the Blazers, all played in Kamloops over the past month, did not go well for the Cats. They lost all three by a combined score of 20-4, including a 9-1 shelling a week ago.
But it was a different story on Cougar ice Friday.
After giving up a couple shots early in the game, one of them a great scoring chance for Colin Shirley, the Cougars totally dictated play in the early stages, holding the Blazers without a shot for 21 minutes. The Cats had a couple power-play chances and had some great looks at the Blazer net over that lengthy stretch but could manage just one goal, a Colby McAuley rebound effort 37 seconds into the second period.
As badly as the Blazers had been outplayed and outchanced while leaning heavily on Ingram to bail them out, they knew one shot would tie it and that's exactly what happened, 7:36 into the second.
Matt Needham threaded a perfect pass to a wide-open Shirley, whose shot was stopped by McBride, but a fat rebound kicked right onto the stick of Ondrej Vela, who swatted in his second of the season.
The Cougars took advantage of their third power play of the night to grab the lead again early in the third period. Gabrielle was quick on his feet to hold the puck in the offensive zone along the boards and that led to a shot on goal from O'Brien which brought Ingram to his knees out of position. The puck deflected high and in off the body of Jansen Harkins standing in front of the empty cage.
Witala made it a 3-1 game, 9:32 into the third period, a sharp-angle shot which trickled through Ingram's legs, but the Blazers answered with two goals 22 seconds apart to tie it up. Ryan Rehill connected on a back-door setup at 14:03 and Dawson Davidson got to a loose puck in the crease behind McBride, who had trouble with Shirley's hard shot from the slot.
Overtime settled nothing. Deven Sideroff thought he had ended it 20 seconds into the extra five-minute session but the apparent Blazer goal was called off by the officials who ruled Needham made incidental contact with McBride.
The shootout point kept the Cougars (12-9-1-1) one point ahead of the Blazers (11-8-3-0).
LOOSE PUCKS: Another big crowd is expected for the rematch tonight on FanCon Night, sponsored by The Citizen. Fans who come to the rink dressed in costumes are eligible for prize giveaways. Game time is 7 p.m... Former Blazer RW Luke Harrison played his first game for the Cougars since arriving this week in a trade from Brandon. The 20-year-old from West Kelowna was held off the scoreboard but scored a solid takedown in the first period with his shoulder check on former teammate Matthew Campese... RW Josh Curtis made his home debut in a Cougars uniform on a line with Kolby Johnson and Bartek Bison. Curtis, a 17-year-old Winnipeg native who started the season in the MJHL with the Winnipeg Blues, was drafted in 2013 by the Cougars in the eighth round... The Cougars dropped C Jordan Ross from their roster this week. The 19-year-old Ross told the team he decided to end his hockey career for personal reasons and has returned to his home in Saskatchewan. The native of Kronau, Sask., had one goal in 13 games this season.
