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Craig Armstrong's natural hat-trick (plus one) lifts Prince George Cougars to back-to-back wins against Vancouver

Career night gives team a winning record in B.C. Division hub

Remember the name, Craig Armstrong! Stamp the date, April 12, 2021! The victim, the Vancouver Giants!

The 17-year-old forward became the first Prince George Cougar in three years to pot a natural hat-trick, and he added one more for good measure to ultimately lead his team to prevail 4-1 against their B.C. Division rivals.

It was also Armstrong's first career multi-point game in the WHL. The Airdrie, Alta. product only scored two goals in 72 contests before Monday.

Josh Maser was the last to score three goals in a row on Jan. 10, 2018, in a 4-3 triumph, also against the Giants, and he scored the game-winner in overtime for four goals as well.

Armstrong was named the first star of the contest for his efforts, as well as the CHL's Player of the Night, marking the second time in as many games a Prince George player received national recognition.

"I think the last time I got a hat-trick like that, it was probably in my bantams or [Under-18s]. It was a while since I've scored that many goals and I was happy it came tonight," he said to the media following the game.

"We're kind of gaining more confidence and growing as a team, and I think that's leading to our winning [ways] the last little while."

He opened the scoring exactly 13 minutes into the first period after passing the puck up the right-side boards to rookie Kyren Gronick, who then backhanded the give-and-go to Armstrong and pushed it up over the glove of Vancouver goaltender Trent Miner.

Gronick and Riley Heidt, the number-two pick in the 2020 WHL Draft, were given the assists on the opening marker and the 1-0 lead for Prince George stayed when the teams went to the locker room.

"Army's really fast, he's really aggressive; that line can really compliment each other," said Cougars General Manager and Head Coach Mark Lamb in the post-game news conference.

"He can grind it out and now he's getting some scoring touch, which he's had and that's one of the reasons that he was drafted so high and it's starting to come together."

Armstrong had to fight a little bit for his second of the evening, the eventual game-winner, after picking up the puck at centre ice and skating around defenceman Mazden Leslie before going five-hole on Miner.

Captain Jack Sander's initial pass to Armstrong's reach was the lone apple of the play.

Four minutes later, the Cougars went to the power-play and with 11 seconds left in the man-advantage, Armstrong tipped in a shot from Hudson Thornton at the blue line to complete the three-goal feat.

Majid Kaddoura was awarded the second assist, and Prince George held on to a 3-0 lead after two stanzas.

Vancouver attempted a comeback that began with Tristen Nielsen eliminating the potential shutout for Taylor Gauthier at the 3:24 mark of the third.

The Giants took a timeout to regroup with 3:07 left in regulation and pulled Miner from the Cage, but that opened the door for Armstrong to nab his fourth of the night and seal the 4-1 beating.

Heidt provided the assist to the freebie for his inaugural multi-point effort of his (very) young major junior career.

"We knew [the Giants] were going to give a real push in the third period and give us a lot of hard times, but Gauthier was there for us when we made some of those mistakes," said Coach Lamb.

"They had the momentum going and he made some big saves, and we just stuck to it and ended up with a big win. A lot of guys, the young line, was unbelievable tonight."

Gauthier stopped 37 of 38 shots for his first win in the B.C. Division hub, while his teammates sent 27 pucks to the other side.

Prince George is above 500 for the first time in the shortened 2020-21 campaign, now with a record of 3-2-1-1.

They're also 2-0-0-1 through three of their six games against the Giants.

The Cougars are back in action Wednesday night (April 14), 7 p.m. against the hub-host Kamloops Blazers with a 7 p.m. puck drop.