Spencer Asuchak had two goals in his final Western Hockey League game to lead the Prince George Cougars to a 4-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers.
There were 4,582 fans who turned out at the CN Centre to watch the Cougars (24-46-0-2) play their final game of the 2011-2012 season. The Blazers (47-20-2-3) will move on to face the seventh place Victoria Royals (24-41-3-4) in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Chase Witala and Asuchak gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead but the Blazers tied on Tim Bozon's 36th goal and Ryan Hanes eight goal of the season. Hanes' goal came midway through the third period. Asuchak's goal was set up by Troy Bourke, who dropped a nifty pass for the 20 year old to put the puck into a wide open net.
Bourke picked up his second assist on Asuchak's empty net goal.
In his 14th appearance in the Cats' net this season Devon Fordyce was solid as the Blazers out shot the Cougars 40-22, including a game-saving save off Bozon soon after Reid Jackson gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal.
The win leaves the Cougars in 21st place, out of 22 teams, with only the Prince Albert Raiders (21-44-3-3) sporting a worse record.
WHL summary:
Kamloops Blazers 2 Prince George Cougars 4
First period:
1. Prince George Chase Witala 9 (Mykitiuk, A. Forsberg) 18:27
Penalties: Gibb PG (slashing) 19:33.
Second period:
2. Prince George Spencer Asuchak 17 (Bourke, J. Forsberg) 11:13
3. Kamloops Tim Bozon 36 (Lipon) 12:37
Penalties: Lipon KAM (slashing) 9:12; Ranford KAM (hooking) 19:14.
Third period:
4. Kamloops Ryan Hanes 8 (Souto, Gaudet) 9:46
5. Prince George Reid Jackson 3 16:48 pp
6. Prince George Spencer Asuchak 18 (Bourke) 19:27 en
Penalties: Springer PG (slashing) 5:53; Gaudet KAM (holding) 16:32.
Shots:
Kamloops 14 16 10 40
Prince George 5 7 10 22
Goaltenders: Kamloops Cam Lanigan (L 12-8); Prince George Devon Fordyce (W 2-8-0-1)
Power plays: Kamloops 0/2 Prince George 1/3
Referees: Fraser Lawrence, Jonathan Spurgeon; Chris Carlson, Darren Spurgeon
Attendance: 4,582
