Marc McNulty had this one marked on his calendar for months.
It wasn't his birthday, but the six-foot-six Kamloops Blazers defenceman did get to unwrap a gift Wednesday night in Kamloops at the expense of his former teammates, the Prince George Cougars.
Traded to the Blazers in January, in his first crack at the Cougars since then, McNulty scored a goal and added an assist in a 7-4 victory which moved the Blazers (26-34-4-3) to within two points of the Cougars (28-34-2-3) in the race for third place in the WHL B.C. Division standings.
Jake Kryski, Cole Ully, Michael Fora, Nick Chyzowsky, Jesse Zaharichuk and Matt Revel (with an empty-netter) also scored for the Blazers.
Defenceman Tomas Andrlik led the way for Prince George with a goal and two assists, his most productive game since joining the Cougars in January in a trade from Prince Albert. Cal Babych, Brad Morrison and Chase Witala also found the net behind Blazers goalie Connor Ingram. Ingram made 31 saves to earn his 19th win of the season as Kamloops outshot the Cougars 45-35.
Andrlik's second assist led to Chase Witala's 34th goal of the season, 45 seconds into the third period, which brought the Cats to within a goal of the Blazers. Witala was denied of the tying goal a few minutes later while on a power play when Ingram dove across the crease to get his glove on a one-timer from the 19-year-old Prince George native.
The Cougars failed to core on six power-play chances, while Kamloops went 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
The Cougars trailed early on a goal from Kryski but responded with goals from Andrlik and Babych and Prince George briefly led in the first period until the 10:14 mark, when Ully notched his team-leading 33rd goal of the season.
Fora, on a Kamloops power play, put the Blazers ahead just before the first intermission.
After being parked on the Cougars bench for much of the second period, Morrison popped in the rebound of Andrlik's point shot. But McNulty caught the Cougars defence pinching and picked off a pass in the middle of the ice to set up a 2-on-1 rush he finished with a slapshot.
Thirty-one seconds later, McNulty sprung teammate Collin Shirley, who fed the puck to Nick Chyzowsky, and he made it a 5-3 game with shot in off the crossbar behind Ty Edmonds.
Zaharichuk and Revel completed the scoring late in the game.
The Cougars will travel to Kennewck, Wash., to face the Tri-City Americans Friday night, then hit Portland, Ore., for a date with the Winterhawks on Saturday.
After that, the Cats will have three games left against Kamloops, their closest geographical WHL rival. The Blazers will be in Prince George for back-to-back games at
CN Centre next Wednesday and Friday.
The teams meet again to close out the regular season on Saturday, March 21.
