Jari Erricson is showing fans of the Prince George Cougars what they missed while he was stuck in sick bay last season.
A Prince George boy playing his last season of junior hockey, the 20-year-old Erricson scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season and added a pair of assists Wednesday in a 6-2 stomping of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Erricson has found a home on the Cats' top line with Chase Witala and Jansen Harkins and that combination was pure arsenic to the young Hurricanes, who for two periods leaned on 15-year-old goalie Stuart Skinner to try to bail them out.
Skinner did what he could to inspire his teammates, making some great saves in the early going, but on this night there was no denying the Cougars. Erricson got the Cats going with a 30-foot snipe, fed a pass by Harkins while he was sliding on his knees. Colby McAuley made it 2-0 while shorthanded on a lead pass from Erricson.
Skinner kicked out McAuley's shot but the rebound deflected in off McAuley's shinpad. Dexter Bricker got the Hurricanes on the board before the first period ended, taking advantage of some bad communication by the Cougars defence, which left a loose puck unattended at the side of the net.
Outscored a combined 18-5 in the second periods of the previous seven games, the Cougars reversed that trend, scoring three unanswered goals in the middle frame. Erricson, on a power play, picked the puck out of a crowd of legs and found the net with a wrist shot while spinning.
A few minutes later, Cats rookie winger Kody McDonald picked up his first WHL career goal to make it 4-1. McDonald, a 17-year-old native of Lethbridge, launched a 35-footer that sailed over Skinner's outstretched trapper.
The Cougars got one more late in the period, all due to Witala keeping his feet moving in traffic. Witala's slick toe drag across the crease left him all alone with the puck at the side of the net and he buried it for his fourth of the season.
Ty Edmonds didn't get a lot of work in the Cougars' nets but when he did get tested he was on top of his game. The Hurricanes leading scorer Riley Sheen was probably the most frustrated Lethbridge shooter, eclipsed on more than a couple occasions by Edmonds' stand-up saves.
Edmonds also robbed Nick Walters on a shorthanded breakaway when the score was 2-1 Cats.
Cal Babych ended the scoring into an empty net, his first point as a Cougar since being traded last week from Calgary.
Babych is the son of former pro defenceman Dave Babych, who played 19 seasons in the NHL with Winnipeg, Hartford, Vancouver, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cats host the Vancouver Giants in a two-game set at CN Centre Friday and Saturday... Friday is the deadline for WHL teams to declare which 20-year-olds will be on the roster with each team limited to maximum of three overage players. The Cougars are still awaiting a decision from the St. Louis Blues on whether 20-year-old forward Zach Pochiro will be sent back to the WHL. Pochiro is currently with the Chicago Wolves, the Blues' AHL affiliate.
