Don’t look now, but the Prince George Cougars are making a push for the Western Hockey League playoffs.
The Cats (9-20-1-3) won their third-straight game Friday in Everett, upsetting the Western Conference-leading Silvertips 4-3.
The win pulled the Cougars to within seven points of the Tri-City Americans for the second wild-card playoff spot.
Cougars centre Ilijah Colina potted the winner 2:34 the third period, 2:34 in, hooking up with pointmen Ryan Schoettler and Rhett Rhinehart to score on Silvertips relief goaltender Braden Holt. The 19-year-old Colina is on a bit of hot streak lately with three goals and two assists in his last three games.
The rink in Everett, now dubbed Angel of the Winds Arena, has been a devil’s den for the Cougars the past three years. Friday’s win, in front of 7,563 spectators, was their first there since Dec. 30, 2016.
Josh Maser opened the scoring five minutes into the game, going rink-length on a rush to notch his 16th of the season.
Dawson Butt tied it about a minute after Maser’s goal. Filip Koffer, a late cut of the Czech world junior team, gave the Cats the lead again, 4:13 into the second period and Blake Eastman made it 3-1 late in the period with his first career WHL goal. That was it for Silvertips’ starter Keegan Karki, replaced by Holt after allowing three goals on seven shots.
Butt’s second of the game early in the third period, on an Everett power play, tied the game 3-3 briefly, until Colina scored 52 seconds later with the teams playing 4-on-4.
Bryce Kindopp, with the only goal of the second period, 19 seconds in, also scored for the Silvertips.
Shots favoured Everett 38-27. Tyler Brennan made 35 saves - the third win of the season for the 16-year-old WHL rookie.
The Silvertips (24-7-2-0) have 50 points in 33 games and continue to sport the league’s second-best record behind the pace-setting Edmonton Oil Kings (23-6-5-2).
The Americans lost 3-2 in overtime Friday to Portland.
The Cougars will play Saturday in Victoria and Monday in Kelowna.
Nine of the Cougars’ first 11 games coming out of the Christmas break are on the road. They’ll return to CN Centre next weekend to host the Silvertips n a two-game set, Jan. 10-11.
