If the Prince George Cougars wanted to send out a reminder to the rest of the Western Hockey League that they are serious contenders for their very first league title, the proof was in the pudding Tuesday night when they put down the top dogs in the country.
They won the battle of the league-leaders with a resounding 5-2 victory over the Regina Pats, handing the Pats only their second regulation-time loss of the season in front of a CN Centre crowd of 3,287.
This one went down to the wire and it took a couple of empty-net goals from Cougars forwards Kody McDonald and Jesse Gabrielle to end the suspense.
The win improved the Cougars WHL-leading record to 18-4-2-0, at the expense of the Pats, who dropped to 16-2-3-0.
From start to finish, the game lived up the hype as the two most potent offences in the league clashed in what was their only regular-season meeting of the season.
Colby McAuley, the game's first star, was a thorn in the side of the Pats all game and he got credit for the gamewinner, capping off a three-goal onslaught by the Cougars to give them an early 3-0 lead.
Cats defenceman Brendan Guhle, in his first game since Friday's blockbuster trade from the Prince Albert Raiders, introduced himself to the pro-Cougars crowd in storybook fashion, scoring on his second shot on goal during a Prince George power play to open the scoring. Guhle took a feed at the point from McAuley, walked the line and drifted into the face-off circle, where he let go a high writer that found the net behind Tyler Brown.
The Cougars caught a break a few seconds later when Pats sniper Sam Steel missed the net from close range with no Cougar in sight. The puck carried around the boards and Brogan O'Brien sent Jansen Harkins free down the left wing. Harkins was allowed to skate in untouched and lifted a high snap shot over Brown's shoulder to make it a 2-0 game.
Twenty-five ticks of the clock later, McDonald carried the puck in deep into the corner and spotted his linemate McAuley streaking through the middle and the 20-year-old centre was perfectly positioned to tap in McDonald's backhand pass from just outside the crease.
Three goals in less than four minutes, the Cougars could not have asked for a better start against the No. 1-ranked team in the country. But the Pats are unmatched this season in the goal-scoring department and they showed how dangerous they can be at the 16:10 mark of the first period.
After two close calls around the Cougars' net were turned aside by goalie Ty Edmonds, the Pats finally cashed in. Right winger Lane Zablocki, the principal in the 2015 trade which brought Gabrielle from the Pats to the Cougars, whipped a shot from the point which ticked off the stick of Austin Wagner into the net.
Having already collected a goal and an assist, Harkins has points in 14 of his last 15 games and he showed he wasn't satisfied, generating at least two Grade A chances in the second period. Playing the left side on a line with O'Brien and Yan Khomenko, Harkins worked the puck over to O'Brien deep on the slot, who had Brown down and out with the net exposed but was unable to lift the puck into the open cage.
The Pats got their first power-play chance late in the second period but the Cougars had the best chance to score when McAuley intercepted a pass and tipped the puck ahead on a breakaway. McAuley got a good shot away, however Brown came up with an even better save, shooting his left leg out to keep it a two-goal game.
The Pats cut the lead in half, 2:55 into the third period, on a power play with Tate Olson off for hooking. Pats defenceman Sergey Zoborovskiy, who played two games for Russia in the CIBC Canada-Russia Series two weeks ago, let go a wrist shot from the point that was partially screened and fluttered in off the glove of Edmonds.
With Brown on the bench for the extra attacker, the Cougars won the draw in their own end and McDonald did not miss with his shot into the empty net. Gabrielle outraced Connor Hobbs a minute later for his team-leading 12th goal of the season to cap the scoring.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars will hit the road for their next three games. They play Saturday in Everett, Sunday in Portland and Tuesday in Vancouver before returning home to prepare for Victoria. The Royals will face the Cats in a two-game weekend series... Cats D Sam Ruopp served the sixth game of his eight-game suspension for his one-sided fight at the end of the game against Medicine Hat, Nov. 2... Cats winger Josh Curtis did not return after he was flattened by a clean open-ice shoulder check from Hobbs, seven minutes into the game.
Game Summary
Pats 2 at Cougars 5
First Period
1. Prince George, Guhle 3 (McAuley, Harkins) 9:30 (pp)
2. Prince George, Harkins 4 (O'Brien) 13:05
3. Prince George, McAuley 9 (McDonald. Schoettler) 13:30
4. Regina, Wagner 10 (Zablocki, Brooks) 16:10
Penalties - Wagner Reg (holding) 7:47.
Second Period
No scoring
Penalties - McDonald PG ((holding) 16:24, Leedahl Reg (roughing) 19:28.
Third Period
5. Regina, Zoborovskiy 2 (Harrison, Zablocki) 2:55 (pp)
6. Prince George, McDonald 6 (Boyd, Olson) 18:23 (en)
7. Pronce George, Gabrielle 12, 19:28 (en)
Penalties - Olson PG hooking 1:54, McAuley PG (interference) 6:21, Wagner Reg (kneeing) 15:50.
Shots on goal by
Regina 8 9 12 -29
Prince George 9 11 8 -29
Goal - Regina, Brown (L,9-2-2-0); Prince George, Edmonds (W,14-2-1-0)
Power plays - Reg: 1-3; PG: 1-3.
Attendance - 3,287.
Scratches - Regina: G Jordan Hollett (injured, lower-body), LW Riley Woods (healthy), RW Bryan Lockner (injured, upper-body), D Dawson Barteaux (healthy); Prince George: D Sam Ruopp (served sixth game of eight-game suspension), D Jonas Harkins (healthy), LW Jackson Leppard (healthy), LW Josh Maser (Kamloops Storm, KIJHL), RW Ethan O'Rourke (healthy), D Cole Moberg (healthy).
