If they ever put a speedometer on Brendan Guhle they might find he's breaking the law.
The 19-year-old Prince George Cougars defenceman most definitely broke the speed limit a few times on the ice Wednesday in the Cats' 5-3 win over the Tri-City Americans Wednesday night at CN Centre.
Guhle skated himself into a blur and snuck in behind enemy lines while the teams were playing 4-on-4 hockey late in the second period and teammate Jared Bethune spotted him and threaded a long lead pass through the Americans defence. Guhle wasted no time tucking the puck through the legs goalie Rylan Parenteau for a 4-2 lead. That stood as the gamewinner, giving the Cougars a two-game sweep of the Americans.
Guhle eighth goal of the season was his sixth in seven games since joining the Cats in a trade from Prince Albert, Nov. 19.
The win kept the Cougars (24-8-2-0) flirting with first place overall in the WHL. They remain atop the B.C. Division, eight points ahead of the second-place Kamloops Blazers, who won 3-2 in overtime Wednesday in Lethbridge. Despite the loss, the Americans (19-13-2-0) still hold down second place in the U.S, Division.
Special teams were key in both games. The Cougars went 1-for-7 Wednesday after scoring twice on seven chances Tuesday. They held the league's top power play without a goal in eight chances in the two-game series, killing off four penalties on Wednesday.
Americans head coach Mike Williamson had to be a lot more satisfied with the effort of his troops after the Cougars made them look sick the previous night in a dominating 4-1 win to start the two-game set. But the coach was likely seething on the bench watching his team's lack of discipline come back to haunt them. The Americans took four minor penalties in the first nine minutes of the third period and one of them led to Kody McDonald's power-play goal which gave the Cougars a 5-3 lead, 4:08 into the third period.
The Americans killed off a two-man disadvantage and had their chances to draw closer in the late stages but Cats goalie Ty Edmonds was not in the giving mood.
He stoned Morgan Geekie on a breakaway, denying the Americans' leading scorer after he came out of the penalty box. Seconds later, Edmonds robbed Jordan Topping with a big glove save.
Down by only a goal midway through the second period, the Americans had the Cats pinned in their own zone chasing the puck for a couple of long stretches. Topping finally cashed in with a sharp-angle shot that snuck through on the short side, the third goal in six games for the 19-year-old from Salt Spring Island, just back from an injury that sidelined him for two months. He hurt his ankle in September in a fight in the Dallas Stars' training camp.
Michael Rasmussen, a projected first-rounder in the 2017 NHL draft, had tied the game 2-2 with his 23rd of the season on a deflected point shot just 19 seconds into the second period. The Cougars wasted no time clawing the lead back. Defenceman Sam Ruopp led a 2-on-2 rush into the Americans zone a dished to Brogan O'Brien, whose toe-drag wrist shot found the net.
The Cougars led 2-1 after the first period on goals 39 seconds apart from Brad Morrison and Bethune. Geekie got the Americans on the scoreboard late in the period.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars boarded the bus after the game bound for Kent, Wash., where they'll take on the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday night. The Cougars wrap up their four-games-in-five-nights schedule Saturday in Spokane against the Chiefs... LW Josh Maser, who scored the second goal for Prince George Tuesday, was held off the scoreboard for the first time in his brief career with the Cougars. The 17-year-old native of Houston notched his first career WHL goal Saturday in his first game with the Cougars. RW Ethan O'Rourke, 17, connected for the first goal of his career in Tuesday's game. The son of Cougars assistant coach Steve O'Rourke is now veteran of 17 WHL games... Will Fundal's anthem voice was put to the test Wednesday when his mic went dead just before he began singing the Star Spangled Banner. Despite the glitch, Fundal's refined tenor could be easily heard without amplification throughout the rows of seats. He got a replacement mic for O Canada.
