Griffin Outhouse barred the door and did everything he could to save the day for the Cariboo Cougars.
He left the comfort of his crease to challenge shooters, played his angles like a billiards shark and pulled off highlight-reel heists that left frustrated Greater Vancouver Canadians shooters shaking their heads.
While Outhouse faced only 17 shots Sunday, what they lacked in quantity the Canadians made up for with quality. But it wasn't enough to defeat the Cougars, who won the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League rematch 3-2 after losing to the Canadians by the same score Saturday at Lakewood Dental Arena.
Third-period power play goals from Todd Bredo and Vancouver Giants prospect Darren Hards lifted the Cougars to their fourth win of the season. Wesley Shipton collected the Cougars' first goal in the second period. Owen Seidel and Gary Dhaliwal were the Canadians' goalscorers.
"It was a good character win for us because they had to bounce back with two goals in the third, it was good for our fans," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague.
As good as Outhouse was, his counterpart in the Vancouver nets was no slouch either. In Sunday's rematch, the Cougars peppered Vancouver goalie Tyler Shugrue with 37 shots.
"To have two 3-2 hockey games, both goalies have to be outstanding -- both goalies were the best players in both games, without question."
The Cougars spent a week in practice discussing the dangers of taking penalties and the possible consequences. They didn't need a reminder, but the Canadians gave it to them Saturday.
With forward Colton Thomas sitting in the box for tripping late in the third period, Canadians captain Kyle Uy used his strength to fend off two checkers and flipped a pass in the slot to Ryan Wilkinson, who fired in the gamewinner with 2:49 left on the clock.
The Cougars had already dodged a bullet early in the third period after giving up a 5-on-3 power -play goal to Uy, the league's leading scorer. Uy's goal 18 seconds into the period allowed Chase Dubois to return to the ice before he'd completed his two-minute sentence after he nailed Seidel with his shoulder and was sent off for a questionable check to the head. On the same stoppage, Hards delivered an intentional head shot and was given a double-minor, which left the Cougars two men short.
But before the Canadians could do any more damage, Cariboo defenceman Joel Patsey took advantage of some aggressive penalty-killing from forwards Steven Jandric and Justin Almeida, and blasted a shot past Shugrue.
The Cougars dominated the third period Saturday and had several good cracks at the net but Shugrue stood his ground. Outhouse was solid throughout, including a sharp kick save on a breakaway chance for Wilkinson with six minutes left.
Austin Gray of the Cougars tied it 1-1 with the only goal of the second period. Michael Tilbury opened the scoring in the first period with a deflected shot past Outhouse, who started the game with a stunning save off Dhaliwal.
The 16-year-old Outhouse signed last week with the Victoria Royals of the WHL. He attended the Royals' training camp and knew he was on their 50-player protected list a few weeks before he was sent back to the midget Cougars. With Dorrin Luding out with a concussion, Jake Sweet called up from the Coast Inn of the North midget Tier 1 Cougars to fill in as backup.
Outhouse is from Likely, near 150 Mile House. His unlikely last name can be traced back to his father's Maritime roots.
"That was my gran's last name and my dad's from Nova Scotia and in Nova Scotia that's like Smith here, if you look there's tons of Outhouses in the phone book," said Outhouse. "You get used to it, it's nothing that really bothers me now. The guys in the room joke about it and I've got a couple of nicknames in there. Everyone fits in well and gets along great on this team."
Sunday's game ended with both teams scrapping and suspensions to both teams are pending. Cougars defenceman Kolten Carpenter will be suspended a minimum of three games for hitting a linesman. Game misconduct penalties to Thomas and Mitchell Williams of the Cougars and Canadians forwards Tilbury and Dhaliwal will result in one-game suspensions for each of them.
