Friday the 13th was a lucky day for Zach Pochiro.
Obviously not the superstitious type, the Prince George Cougars centre wears No. 13 and the 20-year-old from Las Vegas was the high-roller Friday night in Medicine Hat, scoring two goals to help defeat the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-2.
Three goals in a 1:29 span of the first period put the Cougars comfortably ahead of the WHL Central Division leaders. Pochiro converted on the Cougars' first power-play chance to open the scoring 5:57 in, ripping a hard shot in past Tigers goalie Nick Schneider. Alberta boy Kody McDonald added to the tally less than a minute later on a wraparound and Pochiro followed up with his 12th of the season, sprung free on a breakaway pass from Chase Witala.
The Tigers have one of the league's most potent offences and the two leading pointgetters in the WHL in Trevor Cox and Cole Sanford and the Cougars couldn't hold them off forever. Matt Bradley finally got Medicine Hat on the scoreboard 13 minutes into the game on a power-play setup from top-eight scorer Dryden Hunt and Cox.
After a scoreless second period in which the Cougars killed off a 41-second 5-on-3 disadvantage, Steven Owre scored for the Tigers 9:28 into the third period to make it close. But in the final minute, with Schneider resting on the bench and the sixth skater on for the Tigers, Jari Erricson stripped the puck off the stick of defemceman Kyle Burroughs and buried it into the empty net. It was payback time for Erricson, who suffered a concussion three weeks ago in Medicine Hat when Burroughs took him out with a head shot, which earned Burroughs a suspension.
Ty Edmonds continued his outstanding play in goal for the Cougars, stopping 41 of 43 shots. The Cougars were outshot 43-29.
"We caught them flatfooted and scored three goals and that dictated the tempo of the game," said Cougars assistant coach Roman Vopat.
"When you have a goalie who is playing with such confidence, everybody else plays with confidence and they aren't afraid of making mistakes.
"I think we played great defensively, especially against such a powerhouse like Medicine Hat is. We got one power-play goal and our penalty kill was tremendous and as coaches we're happy with the effort."
The Tigers went 1-for-5 on the power play while the Cougars scored once on three chances.
The win improved the Cougars' record to 22-32-2-2 while the Tigers dropped to 36-17-1-2.
The Cougars get right back at it it tonight in Red Deer, where they face the third-place Rebels. Then it's off to Edmonton for a rare Monday afternoon game against the Oil Kings on Family Day in Alberta.
The Cougars are hoping to have left winger Aaron Macklin back in the lineup after missing four games with a concussion. Josh Connolly, their top offensive defenceman, will remain out of the lineup tonight.
He's also missed the last four games with a head injury.
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