When you play with fire in Swift Current, chances are you're going to get bucked.
The Prince George Cougars learned that the hard way Friday night.
Too many penalties got them in trouble too many times and three long shots made all the difference, giving the Swift Current Broncos a 4-3 overtime win.
Newly-acquired Broncos right winger Jamal Watson took off with the puck into the Cougars zone and turned on the jets to get a step ahead of defenceman Joseph Carvalho and the snapshot from 30 feet out found the net low to the blocker side of goalie Ty Edmonds, 1:52 into overtime.
The Broncos tied it late in regulation time. Jon Martin collected his league-leading 32nd goal of the season, another blocker-side shot, this one from the top of the face-off circle, with 2:32 left in the third period.
The Broncos cashed in a power-play chance 3:56 into the third period on a point shot from defenceman Max Lajoie which fooled Edmonds, giving the Broncos their first lead of the night.
But the Cougars responded with back-to-back goals. Chase Witala picked the corner with a quick shot through a partial screen while standing at the side boards - his second of the game and 30th this season. Then at 7:30 of the third, Witala's linemate Brogan O'Brien took a drop pass from Jesse Gabrielle and followed up with a net-finder from the slot to put the Cougars up 3-2, a lead that stood up for only 10 minutes.
Edmonds did not look sharp in Monday's 4-2 loss at CN Centre to the Medicine Hat Tigers and his performance in net Friday was sub-par compared to his play earlier in the season when he was looking like one of the top goalies in the country.
"We had just an OK first (period) but I thought we answered real well in the second and third," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "We did take too many penalties, there's no doubt (the Broncos went 1-for-6 on the power play).
"I didn't think we got what we needed from the back end. We played well enough to win, but you can't give up goals like that, not at this time of year, at this level. I can't sugarcoat it any more. We just need better. There were two that went in from the blueline, wrist shots and the overtime goal, that's three out of four. You can't give them opportunities and offence that they didn't earn."
Witala opened the scoring in the first period with a power-play one-timer. Broncos defenceman Sahvan Khaira, the 17-year-old brother of Edmonton Oilers forward and former Prince George Spruce King, Jujhar, potted his first goal of the season with a shot that deflected off a Cougar in front of Edmonds.
Taz Burman made 29 saves for his third win in four starts since joining the Broncos. He was picked up along with Watson in a trade from Seattle two weeks ago which sent 20-year-old goalie Landon Bow to the T-birds.
The Broncos came close to ending it in the final minute of regulation time with Cougars captain Sam Ruopp serving a kneeing penalty. Lavoie's long shot through a pile of bodies in front just missed the open side of the net behind Edmonds.
The Warriors played the first 51 seconds of OT on a 4-on-3 power play and held the puck in the Cougars' zone but Luke Harrison, Kody McDonald and Tate Olson kept them for getting close to the net.
The Cougars are the most penalized team in the WHL and Holick wants his team to stop taking the unnecessary ones.
"(Ruopp's penalty) doesn't help - our captain makes a silly play in the neutral zone off a draw and it doesn't make any sense to do that," said Holick.
"We have to be smarter. We did some real good things but we did dome dumb thing. These types of games, playoff-type games, starting off a roadtrip. We need better. You're certainly playing with fire when you get into a playoff series and have peaks and valleys like we had."
Nick McBride was back on the Cougars bench as the backup goalie after missing a couple weeks with a lower-body injury.
The Broncos (16-27-4-1) remained 11th out of 12 in the WHL Eastern Conference. With the overtime point, the Cougars (29-18-2-1) reclaimed sole possession of third place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Everett Silvertips, who played later Friday at Tri-City.
The Cougars move on to Moose Jaw to play the Warriors tonight (5 p.m., PT), as they continue their six-game East Division roadtrip.
The Warriors roster includes Brayden Point, Canada's world junior team captain, who has 21 goals and 54 points in just 27 games. The Cougars will also renew acquaintances with Marc McNulty, the Warriors' top-scoring defenceman, has nine goals and 40 points through 46 games this season. McNulty played 3 1/2 seasons for the Cougars.
