A weekend match up with the lowly Vancouver Giants was just what the doctor ordered as the Prince George Cougars took two of the three games to move 10 points ahead in the WHL's western conference.
The Cougars (12-18-1-3) earned a 2-1 win in the finale Sunday in front of 4,029 fans who turned out of the the annual teddy bear and toque night at CN Centre. With the loss the Giants head into the Christmas break with a 9-25 record - last in the Western Hockey League.
Cougars head coach Dean Clark said the two-game home sweep of the Giants was a nice way to end the first part of the season especially after the team has struggled offensively lately and had lost four straight including a 2-1 loss in Vancouver on Friday.
"We needed to have a little bit of a confidence booster for the guys going home for the Christmas break," said Clark.
The win also moved the Cougars into a tie for eighth-place with the Everett Silvertips (13-21-0-2) who were in action at press time but losing 2-1 to the Portland Winterhawks (27-5-1) with less than 10 minutes to play in Everett. Prince George also have three games in hand on the Silvertips.
Carson Bolduc had the winner the rebound off Brett Roulston's shot fled into the open cage off his skate six minutes into the third period. A video review confirmed Bolduc didn't motion the puck into the net with his foot and the 16-year-old had his second career WHL goal.
But it was the first goal the Cougars fans came out for and they had to wait for it until late in the second period.
It was fitting that Alex Forsberg triggered the Cougars teddy-bear goal, after all the 17-year-old was robbed of the chance last year when brother Jesse's third-period fight was the spark that caused the impatient Cats' fans to toss the bears. Forsberg scored on the resulting power play.
"I remember Jesse fought and the bears came on," said Forsberg after Saturday's game. "We weren't sure if we were going to score but luckily I got one and a few bears came on. I hope this year we score early and get the bears out early just like Vancouver did against us."
The Giants scored less than two minutes into Friday's game to trigger the bears but it took Forsberg and the Cougars a little longer Sunday as the bears didn't fly until 17:47 of the second period. Earlier in the period Forsberg beat Giants goalie Payton Lee but put the puck off the top left corner post.
After the Cougars cleaned the ice of bears and toques, the teams retreated to their dressing rooms for the second intermission, tacking on the final minutes of the middle frame to the start of the third period.
Not only did Forsberg bring out the bears but his ninth goal of the season tied the game at 1-1 about three minutes after Trevor Cheek had given the Giants a 1-0 lead.
Brett Zarowny showed his reliability in the Cougars' net as he stopped 35 shots for his second consecutive win.
The Cougars were 0-for-3 on the power play but managed some decent pressure and controlled the puck inside the Giants' zone. Prince George killed off the only penalty they were assessed.
It didn't take long for the Cougars to notch their first goal in Saturday's 6-0 win, though it wasn't a Prince George player who banked the puck past Giants goalie Liam Liston. Only 14 seconds into the game, Cain Franson's attempt to get the puck out of the zone wound up behind the 19-year-old goalie giving the Cats a 1-0 lead. Colin Jacobs' was credited with his 11th goal of the season.
The offensive floodgates opened for the Cougars after that as sophomore Chase Witala had a big game, setting up three goals, scoring a power-play marker and capping it off by dropping the gloves with Scott Cooke to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick.
"Everything was just going right and our line was clicking good and it seemed like everything we did ended up in the back of the net," said Witala, who spent most of the night playing with Forsberg and Troy Bourke. "It's very nice to be able to play with guys of that calibre."
In the three-game series, Cooke dropped the gloves with Zach Pochiro on Friday in Vancouver, with Witala and scrapped with defenceman Dallas Ehrhardt in the finale.
Zarowny had his second WHL shutout in Saturday's win.
Other Cougars goals on Saturday came from Pochiro, Forsberg and a pair from Daulton Siwak. Jacobs had a three-point night while defenceman Joseph Carvalho had two helpers.
Notes: Cougar forward Jake Mykitiuk was a healthy scratch for both weekend tilts with the Giants while Ehrhardt returned to the lineup Sunday after sitting out Saturday, taking Rinalds Rosinskis' spot on the blueline. Rosinskis left Sunday morning to join team Latvia for the World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. Attendance for Saturday's game was announced at 1,511. The Cougars return to action Dec. 28th and 29th when they travel to Victoria for a pair of games with the Royals before returning to the Mainland where they'll wrap up 2012 with a game Dec. 30 in Vancouver.
