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McNulty leads Cats over Broncos

Marc McNulty scored the winner half-way through the third period to give the Prince George Cougars a 5-3 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos Tuesday night at CN Centre.
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Marc McNulty scored the winner half-way through the third period to give the Prince George Cougars a 5-3 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos Tuesday night at CN Centre.

McNulty's goal, the first of the season for the big Cats defenceman, broke a 3-3 tie in the third period.

Tyler Mrkonjic added the insurance marker five minutes later as the Cougars, losers of three-straight games, held on to secure their second win of the young Western Hockey League season to improve to 2-3-0.

It was the Broncos third-straight loss as they fell a game below .500 to 2-3.

For their winning ways, and their first win at home in the 2014-15 season, the Cougars received a standing ovation from the estimated crowd of 2,400 fans in their first Tuesday night game of what the team has dubbed the New Ice Age.

Tuesday's contest, the lone meeting of the season between the two squads was a back-and-forth affair where both teams traded scoring chances and shots.

Cougars netminder Ty Edmonds swept aside 21 of 24 shots he faced, while his counterpart Travis Child stopped 17 of 22 shots.

Trailing 3-2 early in the third period, Broncos defenceman Lax Lajoie evened the game at 3-3 with a four-on-three power-play goal at the 7:23 mark of the frame.

Chase Witala broke a 2-2 tie five minutes into the third period to give the Cats a 3-2 edge. It was the left-winger's second goal of the season.

With 54 seconds remaining in the second period, Swift Current forward Coda Gordon set up Colby Cave to score his first of the season to draw even at 2-2. The two 20-year-olds both reached the 70-point mark in 2013-14.

Left-winger Colby McAuley scored his first of the season on a wrist shot unassisted at the 4:39 mark of the second to give the Cats a 2-1 lead.

Broncos defenceman Brent Lernout's shot from the point at the 3:06-mark of the second period evened the game at 1-1 on the power play with 53 seconds left in a high-sticking penalty taken by Cougars forward Jari Erricson.

David Soltes opened the scoring for the Cougars when he tallied his third goal of the season halfway through the first period on a nifty tic-tac-toe play with Jordan Ross and Tate Olson.

The Cougars hit the road later this week for games in Spokane Saturday and Vancouver Sunday. They return home to face off against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

Swift Current is in Kamloops tonight to take on the 2-1-1 Blazers, in their second game of a five-game road trip.

Loose pucks: The video screen on the score clock was out of service Tuesday night. Because of that, fans received free popcorn during the entire game... Each team only took four minor penalties, with Swift Current scoring on two of their chances.