The prolonged celebration after Zach Pochiro's first goal left him with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
His immediate glass-banging reaction after his second of the night practically catapulted him out of skates. No telling what might have happened Tuesday night at CN Centre if the 20-year-old Prince George Cougar forward hadn't misfired on his shot at an empty Saskatoon Blades' net.
But it was that first one Pochiro is likely to remember well into his future as a pro hockey player, the one that came with 17 seconds left in the first period to tie the game 1-1 while the Cougars were killing a penalty.
It was what most of the 4,800 people in attendance were waiting for and it triggered a stuffed-toy avalanche from the stands, all in support of the Salvation Army's Christmas campaign
"It was amazing, Chase [Witala] made a great play by stopping up on the wall and I didn't even see Joe [Carvalho] but I heard him -- I think everyone in the building heard him yelling for the puck and Chase hit him on the tape with a great pass," said Pochiro. "I was right there in a good spot and Joe made another great play and all I had to do was put it past the goalie into a wide-open net."
After getting the Teddy Bear Toss goal, Pochiro set up linemate Witala for the go-ahead goal early in the second period and notched the winner four minutes into the third period on a perfect setup from Marc McNulty. The Cougars had a few tense moments late in the game when they ran into penalty trouble and the Blades got within a goal but that's as close as it got.
"I was so excited [after his second goal] and I saw people behind the net so I thought I'd jump into them and see what the reaction was," said Pochiro. "Maybe I went overboard but I haven't played in front of that many people in my two or three years of being here and it felt good."
Pochiro, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, has three goals and three assists in the past three games and is on an 11-point pace in eight games since he rejoined the Cougars from the ECHL.
"The first couple games I was just dipping my toes and wasn't really into it and I was playing like a prima donna and after that I started getting a little gritty and getting in people's faces and that carries over and before you know it you're scoring goals," said Pochiro.
Riding the high of a three-game winning streak, the Cougars left town Wednesday morning are now in Washington State. They've got a tough test on their hands Friday night in Everett taking on the nationally-ranked Silvertips (18-7-3-1), who lead the U.S. Division and have the second-best record in the Western Conference.
"It's always hard going into that building, they have a good fan base, they're loud and screaming at you at the bench and it's hard to stay focused," said Pochiro. "But with all this momentum, we went into Kelowna and beat them, we went to Kamloops and beat them, and we've beaten Vancouver in their building. We're not worried, we're not scared of anyone right now. We're not looking at standings, we're looking to win, we don't care who you are."
Cougars forward Tyler Mrkonjic, who scored the Teddy Bear goal last year against Tri-City, almost did it again when Cal Babych sent him into the clear with the puck and he had a great look at the Blades net in the first period. Mrkonjic says the key to success Friday in Everett and Saturday when they face the Chiefs in Spokane is to stay out of the penalty box. The Cougars are still the league's most penalized team and are worst in the league at killing penalties. On Tuesday the Blades exposed that weakness, scoring on two of their seven power-play chances.
"We have a couple things we need to work on going into Everett, it'll be just like our Kelowna game we had the past weekend," said Mrkonjic. "We have to get pucks in deep and we have to block shots and work hard."
