When the St. Louis Blues decided last week it would be better for Josh Pochiro's hockey development if they returned him from the ECHL to the Prince George Cougars, they knew he'd have games like the one he had Saturday night in Vancouver.
Pochiro has a reputation as a game-breaker, a 20-year-old skilled centre who can put the puck in the net, and that's what he did Saturday to the Vancouver Giants, scoring two goals including the winner with 1:12 left in a 4-3 victory.
Pochiro picked up a loose puck in front of the Giants net and lifted it in past goalie Cody Porter to give the Cougars a split in their two-game tour of the WHL's B.C. Division.
Pochiro's first of the night, 16:17 into the second period, gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead they carried into the final period. Cougars winger Brad Morrison did most of the work on the play, using some controlled aggression with his stick along the boards to keep the Giants from clearing the zone. Jared Bethune got the puck in deep and Pochiro was there to poke it in for his first goal in three games since re-joining the Cougars.
Giants scoring leader Carter Popoff made it 3-2 with his 13th of the season a few minutes into the third period, and with 4:26 left on the clock on a delayed penalty, Matt Bellerive got his stick on Mason Geertsen's point shot and chipped it past Cougars goalie Tavin Grant for his second goal of the game to tie it up.
But Pochiro had an answer for that and it gave the Cougars their 13th win of the season, which left them tied with the Kamloops Blazers for third in the division, eight points ahead of the Giants (9-15-0-0). The Cougars (13-13-0-0) host the Regina Pats in their next game Wednesday at CN Centre.
Kody McDonald and Morrison scored for the Cats in the first period, both on rebounds.
The Cougars outshot the Giants 34-22. The Cougars bounced back from a poor defensive effort in Friday's 5-2 loss in Kamloops and played well in front of Grant, outshooting the Giants 34-22.
"I thought it was a great team effort, everybody played well for 60 minutes and it showed at the end," said Cougars assistant coach Roman Vopat. "We didn't give up even when we had the lead and they came back strong and scored to tie it up, but we stuck to our plan and we earned it."
Grant made 19 saves to earn his second career WHL win. It was doubly sweet for the 16-year-old rookie, who grew up in Burnaby, a short hop from the Giants' home at the Pacific Coliseum.
'He was unbelievable, he made the saves when he had to and kept us in the game, guys believe in him," said Vopat. "I think the guys showed character, especially after a tough loss [Friday]. This is a tough building to play in."
Playing in Vancouver has been a nightmare for the Cougars. In their two previous games at the Coliseum this season the Giants outscored them 15-2. Dating back to the 2009-10 season, the Giants had 18 wins and just four losses at home against the Cougars heading into Saturday's game.
The Cougars were without winger Chase Witala, who sat out with leg injury suffered in Friday's game in a collision with Blazers winger Matt Campese. The good news for Witala is the injury is not to his knee joint and is not believed to be serious. He'll be examined by the team doctor this week. Witala ranks second in team scoring with 13 goals and 25 points in 23 games.
