The Portland Winterhawks gave the Prince George Cougars a teddy bear scare.
They tossed around the opportunity to cage the Cougars again and complete a two-game weekend sweep Saturday at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum -- until Brad Morrison arrived with stick in hand.
Morrison took a pass in the slot from linemate Jansen Harkins and rifled the puck high into the net behind Aiden Hill to give the Cougars a 3-2 victory. The power-play goal came with 6:07 left in the third period and the Cats hung on to record their 19th win of the season.
That left the third-place Cougars (19-10-1-1) two points behind the Victoria Royals (20-9-1-1) in the B.C. Division standings and seven off the pace of the first-overall Kelowna Rockets (23-7-1-0).
The Cougars got an unexpected bonus from rookie import forward Bartek Bison when he gave them their first lead of the night. Bison jumped out of the penalty box and started a left wing rush he finished by firing in a shot past Hill’s blocker. Bison’s second goal of the season came 13:28 into the second period, three minutes after Colby McAuley tied it with a shot from a sharp angle – the 28th shot Hill had faced.
Early in the third period, Rihard Bukarts made it a 2-2 game with his 15th of the season. Alex Schoenborn got the fur flying with the first goal of the game on a Portland power play 3:27 into the second period.
Cougars goalie Nick McBride picked up his sixth win of the season, making 25 stops. Shots were 42-27 in favour of the Cougars.
Cougars winger Chase Witala was held off the scoresheet after racking up eight goals in the previous three games.
Portland beat the Cougars 5-4 on Friday, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period. The Cougars took both games against the Hawks in Prince George, Dec. 1-2, winning 3-2 and 5-3.
The Cougars traveled Sunday to Seattle, where they face the Thunderbirds Tuesday night. They’ll return to CN Centre for their final two home games of 2015 when they host Victoria Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s game is Teddy Bear Toss Night.
