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 is pleased to have a 2-0 record heading into a game tonight (7:45 p.m., Kin 1) against the Kamloops-based Thompson Lions, 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 tonight against Kamloops or 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.
In the other Monday result at provincials, Thompson downed the Saanich Braves 5-1.
