The Prince George Cougars raided the tree Friday night in Kent, Wash.
They unwrapped an early Christmas present which came disguised as a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Their fourth straight triumph kept the Cougars (25-8-2-0) well-entrenched in first place in the B.C. Division, while Seattle (16-13-2-1) remained fourth in the U.S. Division.
Goals 3:16 apart in the second period put the Cougars ahead 3-1 in the second period. Brad Morrison collected his 15th of the season, taking a quick pass just inside the blueline before unloading a shot to beat Rylan Toth.
Some aggressive bodywork in the corner by Cougars centre Aaron Boyd on a Prince George power play led to their third goal. Boyd scooped the puck behind the net for Jansen Harkins and Morrison took over, feeding Yan Khomenko a goal-mouth pass for a quick tap-in to the open side, the 10th goal this season for the Russian import.
The T-birds were killing a penalty early in the third period and after coming close with a shorthanded chance that was saved by Nick McBride. Keegan Kolesar stole the puck again deep in the Seattle end and took off on a breakaway. He was hooked from behind by the Cougar defenceman Tate Olson and Kolesar was awarded a penalty shot, 7:18 into the third period. He took the puck in deep and let go a backhander but McBride stuck out his leg to deflect the puck away.
The T-birds made it close with Toth on the bench, 18:56 into the third period. Nolan Volcan got his stick on Ethan Bear's point shot to make it a one-goal game.
The Cougars outshot the T-birds 34-27.
The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period. Colby McAuley scored on the first shot on goal for either team, 56 seconds in. McAuley went wide around Ethan Bear and while standing behind the goal line, he banked the puck in off the back of Toth. The T-birds tied it at 13:18. Scott Eansor gained the puck behind the Cougar net and with a head fake got goalie Nick McBride leaning the wrong way and he scored on a wraparound.
The Cougars wrap up their roadtrip tonight in Spokane against the Chiefs, then have a week off for the Christmas break. Game time is 7:05 p.m. The Cats return to the ice in Victoria to play the Royals in back-to-back games Dec. 27 and 28.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars were without the services of their leading goalscorer, Jesse Gabrielle, who suffered an upper-body injury in the third period of Wednesday's game against the Tri-City Americans. In 28 games, Gabrielle has 19 goals and 32 points... The T-birds were missing two of their top centres. Mathew Barzal is playing for Canada's world junior team the second consecutive year and RW Alexander True is with the Danish world junior team. The Chiefs will be without their leading scorer, RW Kailer Yamamoto, (20-21-41), who is with the American world junior squad.
Game summary
Cougars 3 at Thunderbirds 2
First Period
1. Prince George, McAuley 13 (McDonald, Harkins) 0:56
2. Seattle, Eansor 16 (Moilanen, Volcan) 13:18
Penalties - McDonald PG (tripping) 4:49, Volcan Sea (tripping) 15:50.
Second Period
3. Prince George, Morrison 15 (Khomenko, Collins) 6L57
4. Prince George, Khomenko 10 (Morrison, Harkins) 10:13 (pp)
Penalties - Allbee Sea (slashing) 8:28, McDonald PG (fighting), Adams Sea (fighting) 11:07, Ruopp PG (fighting), Morrison (slashing), Kolesar Sea (instigating, fighting) 12:16.
Third Period
5. Seattle, Volcan 12 (Bear, Ottenbreit) 18:54
Missed penalty shot - Kolesar Sea, 7:18
Penalties - Wedman Sea (holding) 6:08, Harkins PG (roughing), Kolesar Sea (roughing) 10:23, Lakusta PG (tripping) 15:07.
Shots on goal by
Prince George81313-34
Seatle1179-27
Goal - Prince George, McBride (W,6-3-1-0); Seattte, Toth (L,12-13-1-0).
Power plays - PG: 1-3; Sea: 0-3.
Referees - Sean Raphael, Colin Watt; Linesmen - Ron Dietterle, Mark Heier.
Attendance - 3,444.
Scratches - Prince George: F Jesse Gabrielle (upper-body injury), LW Bartek Bison (upper body), D Ryan Schoetler (healthy), LW Jackson Leppard (healthy) ; Seattle: F Wyatt Bear (lower body), F Layne Bensmiller (lower body), G Carl Stankowski (lower body), F Ian Briscoe (healthy).
