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Cougars come back to beat 'Canes

There was little love lost for two teams that only see each other twice in season.
SPORTS-cougars-beat-Hurrica.jpg
Lethbridge Herald photo by Tijana Martin

There was little love lost for two teams that only see each other twice in season.

But after a scrappy, spirited second period, it was the Prince George Cougars that scored the knockout punch on the scoresheet, posting a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes during Western Hockey League action Friday night at the Enmax Centre.

Trailing 2-1 after a second period filled with a couple scraps and plenty of rough stuff after the whistle, the Cougars (11-9-10-0) scored three goals in the third - including a shorthanded empty-netter from captain Sam Ruopp - to hand the 'Canes (13-9-0-0) their second home loss of the season.

The home rare home ice loss also put a damper on Hurricanes rookie Brett Davis's first career goal on a night when the hosts were lacking on chances to score.

"I thought it was a good hockey game," said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. "I thought it was fun to watch from the bench and I thought it was really emotional. There were a couple of fights. There were a lot of hits and it was an odd game for a team we only see twice a year. I thought we did some good things and it could have gone either way."

The Cougars were first on the board 1:26 in, when newly appointed assistant captain Colby McAuley scored off the right wing for a 1-0 lead.

The 'Canes nearly pulled even when Justin Gutierrez scooped up a loose puck behind the Cougar net and worked his way out front, but after a review it was ruled his backhand hit the post and stayed out.

Lethbridge captain Tyler Wong had a chance to tie it later in the first, drawing out Cougars goaltender Nick McBride, but was unable to stuff a shot home.

The Cougars nursed that 1-0 lead into the second until Davis went to work, charging in off the right wing and putting a shot past McBride to tie things up at 1-1 6:10 into the second.

The Hurricanes went on the power play a little over two minutes and Justin Gutierrez put Lethbridge up 2-1 seven seconds into the man advantage for his fifth of the season as the 'Canes skated into the second intermission up 2-1 and outshooting the 24-18.

The Cougars tied it back up at 2-2 8:12 into the third on a goal from Tate Olson before Prince George's Chase Witala scored the game-winner with 7:13 to go.

The Hurricanes nearly pulled even with a little over three minutes later when Darien Skeoch pinched in from off the point and fed Wong, who was unable to get a shot over a sprawled out McBride as the Cougars kept their 3-2 lead intact.

Ruopp added an empty-netter to round out the scoring at 18:50. It was their league-leading seventh shorthanded goal this season.

The Cougars, who lost 9-1 Sunday in Kamloops and 3-1 Wednesday in Calgary, finish off their four-game roadtrip tonight in Medicine Hat against the Tigers.

-- with files from the Citizen