Nathan Warren was under siege and his Cariboo Cougars teammates weren't giving him a lot of help.
Nursing a 3-2 lead over the Fraser Valley Bruins late in the third period Sunday in his first B.C. Major Midget Hockey League game, Warren's gut-check time turned downright queasy when two Cougars were sent to the penalty box.
First, Logan Styler took a lazy cross-checking penalty to nullify a Cougars power play, then Chase Astorino lost his temper and was a bit too rambunctious during a scrum, banished for roughing.
But Warren, a former Prince George midget Tier 1 goalie, stood up the test. On the power play, Bruins shooter Mike Nolan forced him to make a fine pad save and Mitch Skapski came within a whisker of tying it just before the buzzer with a close tap-in but Warren wouldn't budge and the Cougars celebrated a two-win sweep of the Bruins at Kin 1. The Cougars won 6-1 on Saturday.
"I was just trying to hold it together, every point is huge in this league and our goal is to get a good start and follow through strong the whole season," said Warren. "Close games like that make you a little nervous but it's good to get your first win.
"We really took control [of Saturday's game] and we knew they were going to come out a lot harder [Sunday] and we're happy we got the two points. It was a long hard road to make this team and I'm happy I'm here."
Shots were 30-15 in favour of the Cougars.
Tanner Fljellstrom was the big gun for the Cougars on Sunday with two goals. Eli Jarvis had the other. Nathan Craft picked up two assists. Skapski and Matt Revel each scored in the first period for the Bruins.
"[Warren] played a great game, we had a letdown in the first period and didn't come out like we wanted to and they took it to us, but we rebounded in the third to pull it out," said Fjellstrom, the Cougars' captain.
"We had a little adversity we had to battle through late in the game but we got through it and we'll just have to learn for our next games."
Brett Roulston had two goals for the Cougars Saturday, while Jarvis, Tyler Polvelofskie, Hayden James Berra and Kenny Nordstrom also scored. Craig Stewart was the only Bruin to beat Cougar goalie David Readman, who made 25 saves as the Bruins were outshot 34-36.
"Both of our goalies have to be our best players every night, and if they're not they don't need to be here and we need to find other guys that can be," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague. "They need to make saves and they did that. Warren played well and Readman is a kid who also made saves when we broke down. There could have been a few more goals on their part."
The Cougars suffered a cruel blow late in the second period of Saturday's game when centre Brett Harris, one of their most valuable checking forwards last season, separated his shoulder after getting bodychecked into the boards. The injury is expected to keep the 16-year-old from 100 Mile House out of action for at least six weeks.
Fifteen-year-old rookie Ryan Gagnon of Quesnel was a standout on defence for the Cougars, paired with Raymond Grewal. Gagnon is being groomed to make the jump next season to the WHL with Victoria Royals.
"He's been getting better and better and he's a guy we can put in in multiple situations -- power play, shorthanded, we can put him out there late in a game and he's going to make sure guys aren't going to beat him to the net," said Sprague.
