Zach Pochiro scored the shootout winner to help the Prince George Cougars claw past the Prince Albert Raiders 6-5 Monday night in Prince Albert.
Pochiro, a healthy scratch in Prince George's 6-3 road loss to Brandon Saturday, redeemed himself earlier in the game when he scored the equalizer with 15 seconds left in regulation.
It was the Cougars first win on a five-game swing through Saskatchewan and Manitoba to play their Western Hockey League Eastern Conference rivals.
The Cougars were shut out 8-0 in Regina Friday and 6-3 Saturday in Brandon.
Monday night in Prince Albert, the Cougars never led the game, trailing five different times until Pochiro evened things up in the dying seconds with his 18th goal of the season.
The game was tied 3-3 after two periods of play thanks to Cougars goals from Marc McNulty, Troy Bourke and Todd Fiddler.
Fiddler scored his second of the game and 30th of the season to even the game in the third period.
Prince Albert took the lead again on a goal from Dakota Conroy with the man advantage mid-way through the frame.
Jayden Hart, Josh Morrissey, Darcy Zaharichuk, and Chance Braid scored the other Raiders goals in regulation time.
The Cougars fought right to the end when Pochiro knocked the puck in during a goal-mouth scramble on a point-shot from McNulty to send the game into overtime.
Those five minutes solved nothing and the game went to a shootout.
Prince George netminder Ty Edmonds denied Leon Draisaitl, Morrissey, Reid Gardiner and Conroy in the shootout. Raiders goalie Nick McBride stopped Fiddler, Bourke and Jordan Tkatch in the shootout before he faced Pochiro.
The Cougars outshot the Raiders 46-31. Both teams were 1-for-3 on the power play.
The Raiders remain in ninth place in the Eastern Conference at 13-29-3-5, with 34 points.
With 20 games remaining in the regular season, Prince George trails the Tri-City Americans, holders of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, by eight points. The Cougars' record now stands at 19-26-2-5, good for 45 points.
The Cats' road trip continues Wednesday in Saskatoon where they will battle the Blades (14-33-1-3); Friday in Moose Jaw where they will face the Warriors (13-29-3-5) and wraps up Feb. 1 in Swift Current (25-18-2-6) against the Broncos.
The Broncos currently sit in second place behind the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference and have nabbed a playoff spot.
