The Cariboo Cougars needed a big goal to avoid a 0-2 start at the Telus Cup and they got one.
With fewer than four minutes to play in a Tuesday night game at the national midget hockey championship at CN Centre, the Cougars salvaged a 3-3 tie with the Regina Pat Canadians in front of about 1,000 spectators. Cariboo forward Tyler Maser fired the tying goal from between the faceoff circles at 16:42 of the third period. Maser, on the move after a pass from Hunter Floris, zipped a shot low into the corner of the net, past Regina goaltender Dean McNabb. The goal was Maser's second of the game.
With the tie, the Cougars kept themselves in the Telus Cup playoff picture. Falling to 0-2 would have made for a tough road to a playoff spot, reserved for the top four clubs in the six-team event.
The Cougars lost their Monday opener 4-1 to the Leduc Chrysler Oil Kings, while the Canadians dropped a 5-2 decision to the Mississauga Rebels. Both the Cats and Pat Canadians now sit at 0-1-1.
Tyler Lees of the Canadians was credited with what looked like it might be the winning goal at 2:46 of the third. Lees and Eric Pearce were breaking in on Cariboo goaltender Marcus Allen, and Pearce hit his linemate with a short cross-ice pass near the net. Lees got his blade on the puck and it appeared to bounce off Floris and into the net.
The Pat Canadians had a 2-0 advantage after an evenly-played first period, and the Cougars scored the only two goals of the second to get back in the game.
In a penalty-filled middle period, the Cats scored two early goals to deadlock the score 2-2. First, at 3:42 on a power play, blueliner Jeremy Gervais fed a pass down to Maser at the left post and Maser directed the puck past McNabb. Then, a little more than a minute later, Cariboo defenceman Jarin Sutton took a point shot that was tipped home by his twin brother, Devin Sutton.
The remainder of the period had little in the way of flow because of a string of penalties. A key moment for the Cougars came when they successfully killed back-to-back mid-period penalties to Ty Kolle (holding) and Maser (boarding).
In the first period, the Cougars continued the physical play they showed in Monday's loss to the Oil Kings. Just a couple minutes after the opening faceoff, Kolle used all of his 180 pounds to crunch Canadians defenceman Adam Herold into the end boards behind the Regina net and that hit set the tone for the Cats as the game continued.
Shortly after Kolle's bodycheck, Maser was handed a double-minor penalty for head contact. The Cougars killed off the infraction and almost scored shorthanded, with Mason Richey and Trey Thomas getting the chance. But, two seconds after the penalty expired, Harrison Blaisdell of the Pat Canadians cut across the top of the Cougars' crease and beat Allen low on the blocker side.
A few minutes later, with Cariboo defenceman Joel Patsey in the box on a questionable boarding call, Randen Schmidt of the Canadians ripped a point shot past a screened Allen.
The Cougars had two great chances to get on the scoreboard after that but McNabb stopped a one-timer from the low slot by Riley Krane and then got lucky when a second shot went off the bottom of the post. McNabb then committed an act of thievery on Richey, whose close-in backhander ended up in the goalie's glove.
Overall, the Cougars outshot the Pat Canadians 29-27. The Cats were 1-for-2 on the power play and held the Canadians to one goal in six man-advantage chances.
The Cougars will be back in action tonight when they clash with the Cape Breton West Islanders at 7:30. The Islanders have started the tournament with a pair of wins. The Pat Canadians will face the Saint-Francois Blizzard (0-2) at 4 p.m.
TELUS CUP TIDBITS: Cougars defenceman Jonas Harkins didn't play in Tuesday night's game because of a shoulder injury he sustained on Monday against Leduc... With school kids off on Friday for a professional development day, the Telus Cup organizing committee is offering free tickets to the first two games of the day to students aged 18 and under. To qualify for the ticket giveaway, students must show up wearing a hockey jersey. The games are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
