Blazers jump past Cougars in standings
The Prince George Cougars probably deserved a better outcome than what they were handed in a 4-3 road loss Saturday to the Kamloops Blazers.
They fired 41 shots at goalie Dylan Ferguson and failed to register a point, losing their third straight WHL game to one of the hottest teams in the league.
Quinn Benjafield caught the Cougars by surprise and scored the winner, 13:47 into the third period.
“That was a bad line change,” said Cougars associate coach Steve O’Rourke, in the post-game broadcast.
“You can’t have three guys changing at the same time. We got close to getting it in (the Kamloops zone), it was at the blueline but it’s not deep enough. You’ve got guys coming on and just couldn’t handle that rush.
“I’m not sure if it was tipped or not, it’s a tough one to swallow because we played well enough.”
The Blazers got to Cougars goalie Tavin Grant early. Luc Smith scored on a Kamloops power play 7:30 into the game and Garrett Pilon made it a 2-0 count, scoring while shorthanded at 9:19 of the first. The 20-year-old Pilon has been on a hot streak lately, collecting seven goals and 15 assists in his past 10 games.
The Cougars came on strong in the second period, outshooting the Blazers 20-9, and outscoring them 2-0. Josh Curtis got the Cougars on the board at 4:57, lifting a backhander over Ferguson to cash in on a 3-on-1 rush, set up by a pass from Jared Bethune.
Dennis Cholowski deflected Jackson Leppard’s shot from the right wing boards past Ferguson to tie the game at 7:09. — see ADRIAN, page 11