On a night when the Prince George Cougars broke out of their scoring slump, trust Drew Owsley to steal the show.
He's been doing that for the Cats all season long. Problem is, it's not a goalie's job to score, and that's what's been sinking the Cougars.
Owsley was on his game again Friday, saving 49 of 52 shots as the Cougars doubled the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-3 in front of 2,127 witnesses at CN Centre.
You had to figure the Cougars were due to light it up. Even though they came into the game as the WHL's lowest-scoring team, their drought in 2012 was reaching epic proportions, with just one goal in four games.
"It was just a matter of time," said Cougars head coach Dean Clark, whose team improved to 14-26-0-2. "We just needed to keep things simple and our power play was good tonight. We gave up too many chances against and Owsley was very sharp for us. He's been so good for us all year."
Thanks to Owsley, the first Friday the 13th of 2012 proved lucky for the Cats.
"I don't know what it is about Friday nights, that's our first win at home on a Friday night," Clark said.
"We'd been stuck on the number 13 for wins for awhile so it's good to get off that."
It was an ominous beginning for the P.G. boys. The Hurricanes wrapped a blanket around the Cougars in their own end and strung seven together shots before the Cats could lay any rubber on Damien Ketlo, a native of Fort Fraser making his first CN Centre start as a Hurricane.
Cougar forward Chase Witala overskated the puck trying to clear the zone and Craig Leverton flicked it into the net to open the scoring, 2:48 in.
The Cats finally flexed their offensive might with three goals in less than three minutes, two of which came on power plays.
Clark's decision to move a defenceman up as a screening forward Jesse Forsberg paid off when he tipped in his first goal of the season, one second before the Hurricanes returned to full strength.
The Cougars ended up 3-for-9 on the power play but it was their last line of defence that won them the game and Forsberg gave Owsley full credit.
"He's unbelievable every night and he deserves to win almost every night," said Forsberg. "He made so many big saves for us, it's huge for him."
Jordan Tkatch chipped in a rebound a minute after Forsberg's goal, the ninth of the season for the 16-year-old rookie from Prud'Homme, Sask. Forsberg stood in front to totally obscure Ketlo's view of a point shot from Cody Carlson that gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead.
The 'Canes cut the gap on a power play one-timer from Brody Sutter, son of former NHL'er Duane. That didn't seem to faze the Cougars, who chased Ketlo to the bench after goals from Daulton Siwak, his first since the trade that brought him from Red Deer, and Carlson, his second of the game. Ketlo, 20, could not be faulted on Carlson's long shot, which changed direction after ticking off the stick of Spencer Galbraith.
But coach Rich Preston had seen enough and brought Liam Liston into the game.
Brady Ramsay drew the Hurricanes to within a couple goals late in the period but Greg Fraser got that one back early in the third on another Cats' power play when a Lethbridge clearing pass deflected off the referee right on to the stick of Fraser.
Coupled with the Victoria Royals' 7-3 loss in Regina, the Cougars are now one point behind Royals for the final WHL Western Conference playoff spot.
KITTY LITTER: Former professional wrestler Bret "Hitman" Hart dropped the puck for the opening face-off and attracted a long line of autograph-seekers in the concourse during the first intermission. Hart, a friend of Cougars coach Clark, is in town to help promote Sunday's WWE Smackdown fight card. He will be on hand for an on-ice challenge with one lucky fan during tonight's rematch against Lethbridge at CN Centre... Former Cougar forward Nick Buonassisi was held to one assist and was stopped by Owsley on a third-period penalty shot.
