After a 10-day road trip and the roughest part of the schedule now behind them, the Prince George Cougars can look back at the month of January with a sense of accomplishment.
Their 3-1 win Sunday in front of a crowd of 6,826 at Rogers Place in Edmonton completed a two-game sweep of the Oil Kings to cap a month in which they went 9-4-1-0.
The Cats (36-14-3-0) are back on top of the overall WHL standings with 75 points, two ahead of the Regina Pats, who have played seven fewer games. Their 36 wins equals last year's 72-game total, but the Cougars have done that in 19 fewer games.
On Sunday, Aaron Boyd, Jansen Harkins and Brendan Guhle took care of the scoring for Prince George. Early in the second period, Harkins was left alone in front and got to the rebound after Radovan Bondra let one go from the side. Fifteen seconds later, Guhle scored from the point.
Davis Koch converted a 2-on-1 chance late in the first period for the lone Edmonton goal, 11 minutes after Boyd opened the scoring at 3:33.
Ty Edmonds made 26 saves to earn his 95th career WHL victory, tying the Prince George franchise record with Scott Myers. Shots were 37-27 in favour of the Cougars.
After a disappointing 5-2 loss Friday in Red Deer, the Cougars moved on to Edmonton, where they pulverized the Oil Kings 11-3 Saturday, posting their 19th road victory to set a single-season franchise record. That bar is now set at 20.
Saturday's win could not have been a better homecoming for Colby McAuley. Born and raised in Sherwood Park, an Edmonton suburb, the 20-year-old winger had the most productive night of his three-year WHL career with two goals and two assists as the game's first star.
Harkins finished with four assists, to set a new franchise high for career assists with 154, breaking Troy Bourke's record of 152 set three years ago.
Bondra picked up two goals and an assist Saturday to take over as the Cougars' leading goal-scorer this season with 25 and has six goals and 12 points in 11 games since joining the team in a trade from Vancouver.
Even Josh Anderson got in on the scoring act Saturday, his first goal in 69 games for the third-year defenceman. Anderson's goal, his fourth in three seasons, came with 57 seconds left on a Cougar power play. The Cats' beleaguered power play, which still ranks near the bottom of the league, went 4-for-5 Saturday against the Oil Kings.
The Cats had nine different marksmen. Rookie Jackson Leppard picked up his first career WHL point, an assist on Boyd's goal in the second period, part of a three-goal, 38-second outburst for the Cougars. McAuley started it with a power-play goal and Brogan O'Brien scored 13 seconds after Boyd to make it an 8-2 count. O'Brien, who scrapped with Ty Gerla in the second period, completed the Gordie Howe hat trick when he scored his ninth of the season.
Brad Morrison, Tate Olson and Kody McDonald also lit the lamp. Tyler Robertson had two in the game for Edmonton and Will Warm fired a single.
Nick McBride made 19 saves to earn his fourth-straight win in the Prince George nets.
The Cougars host the Kelowna Rockets Friday and Saturday at CN Centre, the start of a six-game home-stand.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars hadn't scored 11 goals in a game since Oct. 5, 2001, when they beat Medicine Hat 11-5 at CN Centre. Dan Hamhuis had five assists in that game and Blake Robson had three goals and two assists.... Cougars winger Nikita Popugaev missed both weekend games so he could play in the Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Monday night. The 18-year-old Russian import, ranked as a likely first-round draft pick in the NHL draft in June, suited up for Team Orr.
