The shot count heavily favoured the Prince George Panago Cougars on opening day at the Bon Voyage Inn/Carmel Inn Tier 2 midget hockey tournament but they had trouble scoring in their two games Friday.
In the late game they peppered the Fort St. John Petroleum Huskies, outshooting them 33-16, but had to settle for a 3-3 tie.
Naythen Zinck tied it for Fort St. John 10:35 into the third period, a couple minutes after Riley Gaboury had given the Cougars a 3-2 lead.
Jovhan Janjua and Aiden Reeves also scored for Prince George. Storm Noskey and Jace Wieler also found the net behind Cougar goalie Joshua Adams.
In their morning game, the Cougars took a few too many penalties and Chilliwack Junior Bruins goalie Cory Richardson was locked in on making life difficult for the host team, making 44 saves in a 3-2 Bruins' win.
Scoring for Chilliwack were Matthew Waldock, Diego Valera and Noah Dorman, who fired the winner with seven minutes left in the third period. Alex Nimmo and Cam Needham were the Cougars goal-scorers. Shots were 46-21 in favour of Chilliwack.
"We had a tough time putting the puck in the net and they capitalized on their power plays and we didn't," said Cougars head coach Don Gaboury.
"The kids played well and we were in their end most of the third period but give them a lot of credit, they blocked a lot of shots and their goalie played well."
The Bruins went 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Cougars were 0-for-3.
Tyler Lindstrom took the loss in net for Prince George.
Today, the Cougars are back on the ice at Kin 1 at 8:45 a.m. to play Central Okanagan (Kelowna). The Cougars finish out their round-robin schedule at 5 p.m. at Kin 3 against Terrace.
The Cougars are coming off a semifinal finish last weekend at a tournament in Edmonton. In their only other tournament action at the end of October in Quesnel they beat Vancouver in overtime in the final to capture the title. The Cougars are vying for a berth in the provincial midget Tier 2 provincial tournament in March in Quesnel.
Other Friday results from the Bon Voyage Inn/Carmel Inn tournament were as follows: Williams Lake 7 Central Okanagan 1; Terrace 7 South Okanagan (Penticton) 2; Fort St. John 6 Quesnel 3.
Semifinals in the eight-team event are scheduled for Sunday at 7:30 a.m. at Kin 2 and at 8:15 at CN Centre. The final will be at
1 p.m. at Kin 2.
