Only one hat was thrown onto the ice at Prospera Centre when Carter MacAdams collected the first hat trick of his Western Hockey League career Wednesday night in Kelowna to trigger a 5-2 win for the Prince George Cougars.
That flying chapeau came from a guy wearing MacAdams’ No. 16 Cougars jersey who just happens to be the 17-year-old left winger’s grandfather.
Having his family in the stands to witness his first three-goal game was the icing on the cake for the South Surrey native in a convincing victory over a division rival which ended the Cougars’ five-game losing streak.
The Cougars were already leading 1-0 on a first-period goal from Cayden Glover when MacAdams beat goalie Jari Kykkanen for his first of the night on a Cougar power play, 3:59 into the second period. He made it a 3-0 count 10 minutes into the period on a setup from Caden Brown.
The Rockets, looking for their sixth-straight home-ice win, were a frustrated bunch trying to score on by Cats’ goalie Tyler Brennan, one of 15 WHL players selected earlier this week to play in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game March 23 in Kitchener, Ont. Brennan had already made 19 saves in the first period and 12 in the second when the Rockets finally got one through the 18-year-old Winnipeg native.
John Babcock gave the Rockets and their crowd of 3,400 a sliver of life when he scored, 8:25 into the third period. But less than a minute later, defenceman Hudson Thornton sprung MacAdams on a breakaway pass and he buried his shot for his 10th goal and 19th point in 39 games this season.
Defenceman Ethan Samson added to the Cougar lead on a power play at the 11:51 mark, the 10th of the season for the Philadelphia Flyers’ draft pick. Adam Kydd capped the scoring for Kelowna with 36 seconds left.
The Rockets outshot the Cougars 46-28.
With the victory, the Cougars improved their sixth-place Western Conference record to 19-25-2-1. The Rockets (26-123-1-3) continue to hold down fifth place in the conference, 15 points ahead of the Cougars.
The teams will meet again Friday and Saturday at CN Centre. Game time both nights is 7 p.m.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Canadian Hockey League announced new dates for the Kia Memorial Cup. The five-team tournament will be played June 20-29 in Moncton, N.B.
