The Coast Inn of the North Cougars used more late-game heroics to move to 2-0 at the B.C. Hockey midget Tier 1 provincial championship tournament.
Late Monday night at Kin 1, the Cougars trailed the North East B.C. Trackers 3-1 in the opening minutes of the third period but stormed back for a 5-3 victory. Earlier Monday, the Cats needed a comeback to win their first game of the six-team event, 5-3 over the Coquitlam Chiefs.
While Cougars head coach Justin Fillion was pleased to start provincials with a 2-0 record, he said his club has to be more focused for a full 60 minutes.
"I'm happy with the resilience we're showing but we shouldn't be putting ourselves in that position," he said. "If we do that down the road against Chilliwack or Saanich, we could be in trouble."
In the Monday night game, the Trackers jumped into a 3-1 lead at the 2:49 mark of the third period on a goal by Connor Bowie. But, a few minutes later, Brandon Dent replied for the Cougars. Then, with a little more than two minutes left on the clock, Dent struck again and the score was tied 3-3.
The Cats, with their flair for the dramatics, got what proved to be the winning goal with 57 seconds left. On the play, a rebound came out to defenceman Max Arnold and he quickly fired the puck back toward the net and it found its way behind goaltender Brandon Clark.
Kyle Boshier - with his second goal of the game and third of the tournament - capped the scoring for the Cougars before the final buzzer sounded. In net, Aaron Jakubowski picked up the win for Coast Inn.
Bowie finished with two goals and an assist for the Trackers, whose other marker came off the blade of Aiden Craig-Steele.
On Monday afternoon, the Trackers dropped a 2-1 decision to the Chilliwack Bruins.
So far in the tournament, the 15-year-old Dent and just-turned 18-year-old Boshier have been major contributors for the Cats. Dent also had a goal and an assist in the win against Coquitlam.
"He's a great player," Fillion said of Dent. "He has a lot of skill, a lot of speed. Especially on this big (Olympic-sized) ice (at Kin 1), when he uses his speed and can find some open space he can create plays. He's definitely one of our go-to guys and a guy who has stepped up for us all year."
Fillion, meanwhile, used the phrase "big-game player" to describe Boshier.
"He's definitely been one of our leaders this year," Fillion said. "He's showed it each and every game. He's a guy who wins his battles and he takes care of his own end."
The Cougars moved to 3-0 on Tuesday night when they beat the Kamloops-based Thompson Lions 3-1. Tyler Marsh, Chase Schurack (on a power play) and Dent (shorthanded) had the goals for the Cats and Jake Sweet was the winning goaltender.
In Tuesday's earlier match-ups, Coquitlam moved to 1-1 with a 6-3 victory against Saanich and Chilliwack elevated its record to 2-0 thanks to a 5-1 win against the Lions.
Today, the Cougars will face Chilliwack at 7:30 p.m. in a battle for first place in the standings. The Cats will clash with Saanich in their final round-robin game on Thursday (1:30 p.m.) and the top two teams will meet for B.C. gold later that day, at 7:30 p.m.
All games are at Kin 1.
