Ty Edmonds was hoping by the end of the night Friday he'd be all alone as the winningest goalie in the 23-year history of the Prince George Cougars.
Cole Lind was only too happy to dash those hopes with the blade of his hockey stick.
The 18-year-old Kelowna Rockets right winger scored two goals, including the gamewinner, sparking the Rockets to a 3-2 victory, their first win over the Cats after four losses in the season series.
Lind, ranked as a potential first-round pick in the NHL draft in June, was left alone in the slot and launched a high shot over the overstretched body of Edmonds 7:23 into the third period to put the Rockets on top for the rest of the game.
Led by the relentless forechecking of their high-end forwards - Reid Gardiner, Calvin Thurkauf, Dillon Dube and Nick Merkley, the Rockets came on strong in the third period and totally dominated the Cougars, plugging the middle of the ice while outshooting their opponents 16-5 in the final frame.
The win improved the Rockets' WHL B.C. Division record to 29-19-4-0, moving Kelowna to within 13 points of the division-leading Cougars (36-15-3-0), who kicked off a six-game homestand at CN Centre.
The Rockets' penalty-killers delivered the first strike 8:12 into the game. Dube's world-class speed allowed him to track down a loose puck behind the Cougars' net on a long shoot-in. Dube sidestepped a hit from Tate Olson and avoided a stick-check attempt from Radovan Bondra to set up Lind for a tap-in from the slot.
It was the 10th shorthanded goal of the season for the Rockets and the seventh shortie allowed by the Cougars this season. It came seconds after Cats winger Colby McAuley spun a backhand shot through the crease just wide of the cage with goalie Michael Herringer caught out of position.
Gardiner gave the Rockets a 2-0 lead late in the period, set up in the face-off circle by Merkley. It was the fourth goal and eighth point for Gardiner since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Prince Albert Raiders. Gardiner, who collected 106 goals and 220 points in four seasons with the Raiders, had been playing in the AHL for the Wilkes-Barre Penguins, where he had three goals and three assists in 26 games.
The Rockets had to consider themselves lucky to get out of the first period with a lead after the Cougars just missed on more than a handful of great chances.
McAuley atoned for his earlier miss 20 seconds into the second period when he stole the puck away from Rockets defenceman Braydyn Chizen and wired a high shot from the slot into the net.
The Cougars controlled the puck through much of the second period, outshooting the Rockets 14-7. Cougars winger Nikita Popugaev, with his parents from Russia watching among the crowd of 3,038, came close to tying the game nine minutes into the period when he blasted a shot that hit the crossbar and the came out the other side off the post.
Jesse Gabrielle got the Cougars back on even terms 17:09 into the second, completing a three-way passing play with linemates Kody McDonald and Brogan O'Brien. It was the 24th goal of the season for the 19-year-old Boston Bruins prospect.
The shots ended up 34-32 in the Rockets' favour. Edmonds remained at 95 career WHL wins, tied with Scott Myers for the team record, set in 2000.
The teams will meet again tonight at CN Centre (7 p.m. start). A big crowd is expected on the Aboriginal Night promotion.
LOOSE PUCKS: Cougars defencemen Sam Ruopp took a massive hit nine minutes into the middle period when he got nailed backwards headfirst into the corner boards by Dube, who got away unpenalized with what looked like a charge. Ruopp appeared wobbly on his knees before he skated off and left the bench briefly but returned to the game. That hit came right after Ruopp flattened Gardiner with a shoulder check at the Cougars blue line... Mike Langin was the only referee available for Friday's game when Colin Watt, the other scheduled ref, was snowed in at Vancouver airport and was unable to fly to Prince George... D Brendan Guhle sat out Friday's game with an ankle injury. He and LW Tanner Wishnowski (upper-body) were the only other injured Cougars. The Rockets were missing C Tomas Soustal, a Czech world junior team member, out with a lower-body ailment.
Game Summary
Rockets 3, Cougars 2
First Period
1. Kelowna, Lind 23 (Dube) 8:12 (sh)
2. Kelowna, R.Gardiner 4 (Merkely, Thurkauf) 18:04
Penalties - Harkins PG (interference) 0:40, Kel bench (too many men, served by Cowell) 2:55, Ballhorn Kel (kneeing) 6:24.
Second Period
3. Prince George, McAuley 19, 0:20
4. Prince George, Gabrielle 24 (McDonald, O'Brien) 17:09
Penalties - Southam Kel (fighting), Anderson PG (fighting) 1:50, Collins PG (high-sticking) 5:06. R.Gardiner Kel (slashing) 10:24, E.Gardiner Kel (hooking) 14:04. Chizen Kel (tripping) 17:17.
Third Period
5. Kelowna, Lind 24 (Dube, Ballhorn) 7:23
Penalties - Lind Kel (tripping), Olson PG (hooking) 4:50
Shots on goal by
Kelowna 11716-34
Prince George13145-32
Goal - Kelowna, Herringer (W,22-12-3-0); Prince George, Edmonds (L,26-11-2-0).
Power plays - Kel: 0-2; PG: 0-5.
Referees - Mike Langin; Linesmen - Nick Bilko, Nathan Van Oosten.
Attendance - 3,038
Scratches - Kelowna: Konrad Belcourt (healthy), C Tomas Soustal (lower body), RW Leif Mattson (healthy); Prince George: D Jonas Harkins (healthy), D Brendan Guhle (ankle), LW Tanner Wishnowski (upper body).
