The Kamloops Blazers keep finding ways to win, while the Prince George Cougars continue to stumble.
The Blazers dumped the Cougars 4-1 Friday night in Kamloops and with their eighth-straight victory they locked up third place in the WHL B.C. Division standings.
That means the Cougars will have to travel to Seattle to open the playoffs next Friday against the Thunderbirds, who clinched the U.S. Division regular season title. The Blazers will begin their playoff run Friday in Kelowna against the second-place Rockets.
Colin Shirley scored two goals to lead the Blazers.
After an evenly-played first period in which both teams managed 13 shots on goal, the Blazers took advantage of some undisciplined play from the WHL's most penalized team. Six straight minor penalties issued to the Cougars in the second period resulted in two power-play goals for the Blazers.
Kamloops started with a 5-on-3 cash-in at the 12 minute mark, with Cats defenceman Joel Lakusta and winger Colby McAuley both in the box serving minors. Gage Quinney carried the puck to the opposite side of the Cougar zone and lifted a high wrister past a screened Ty Edmonds.
That came on a delayed penalty issued to Cougars captain Sam Ruopp for charging. McAuley had just stepped out of the penalty box when Blazer forward Matt Revel snapped in a pass through the crease from linemate Jake Kryski, 13:08 into the second.
The Cougars answered with a power-play goal late in the second period. Jesse Gabrielle set up Jansen Harkins for a one-timer while the Cougars were on a 4-on-3 advantage.
In the third period, Shirley tipped a high shot in past Edmonds to complete a pretty three-way passing play with Garrett Pilon and Deven Sideroff. Shirley also added an empty-netter.
The win left the Blazers (37-25-5-4) six points ahead of the Cougars (36-30-3-2), who have lost flour straight and five of their last six games.
"I thought we started extremely well," said Cougars assistant coach Roman Vopat, in the post-game broadcast. "We went into the game knowing we had to take the two points. One point for Kamloops would clinch third place in the division and we didn't want to allow that.
"The game was wide-open until we decided to take dumb penalties. That's been our Achilles heel pretty much the whole year and if you play a team and give them two consecutive 5-on-3s, you know you're going to dig the puck out of your net. I think that was the turning point in our game."
Kamloops went 2-for-6 on the power play while the Cougars scored on one of their three chances.
Shots were 37-36 in favour of the Blazers. Both goaltenders were sharp but Connor Ingram, the game's first star, won the battle. It was his 34th this season and fifth against the Cougars in six starts. Edmonds was named the second star.
The Cougars will be facing one of the hottest teams in the league in their opening-round best-of-seven series. Seattle's 11-game win streak came to an end Friday when they lost 2-1 in overtime to Tri-City.
The Cougars will wrap up the regular season against the Blazers tonight at CN Centre (7 p.m. start). The team will be sponsoring giveaways on fan appreciation night.
LOOSE PUCKS: Lethbridge Hurricanes goalie Stuart Skinner scored a goal Friday in a 9-3 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers. Skinner shot the puck into an empty Tigers' net for his team's eighth goal, 16:37 into the third period. With the win, the Hurricanes clinched first place in the Central Division.
