Morrison strong in return to CN Centre
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Morrison scored two goals and if not for Gauthier, who won two one-on-one showdowns with the New York Rangers draft pick, he easily could have had four. Morrison cashed in a power-play chance with a 30-foot wrister to open the scoring 15:32 into the game. The 20-year-old Prince George native, who played the first four seasons of his WHL career with the Cougars, was traded in the off-season. He had an assist in the Giants’ 5-2 win on Friday.
“(Friday) was a better game obviously because we won and I thought tonight they played pretty hard – they’re a hardworking team and a couple bounces probably could have been the difference,” said Morrison. “It was a little bit of an unlucky game for us, not taking anything away from their game. But there were a couple times we could have executed and it didn’t go our way and it didn’t happen for us.”
Morrison played the left side on a line with Ty Ronning and Slovakian import Milos Roman.
“It was a little strange coming back to your hometown and playing in front of your fans and the team you used to play for,” Morrison said. “I was here for a long time and it would have been nice to get four points but we’ll take the split.”
Morrison’s first of the night came a couple minutes into a five-minute fighting penalty handed to Kody McDonald, the Cougars leading scorer, when he jumped Tyler Benson and started beating on the Giant forward behind the flow of the play, resulting in an ejection and an early shower for McDonald.
The teams were playing 4-on-4 when the Cougars scored back-to-back goals 18 seconds apart late in the period to grab the lead. Bethune kept the play in the Giants’ zone and chipped the puck ahead to Boyd, who found the net for his fifth goal. On the ensuing rush, a loose puck came out to the face-off circle in the Giants’ end and Lakusta rushed in to gain control and spotted a wide-open O’Rourke standing at the side of the net for an easy tap-in – the first lead of the weekend for the Cougars.
In a wide-open, highly-entertaining second period that featured numerous chances at both ends, Morrison tied it on a rebound for his ninth of the season, 6:23 into the period. The 2-2 deadlock did not last long.
The Cougars were killing a penalty midway through the second period when O’Brien knocked down a high pass with his glove to set up a breakaway and was hooked from behind by Alex Kannok-Liepert. On the ensuing penalty shot, O’Brien waited for goalie Todd Scott to dip his shoulder and wired a wrist shot in on the blocker side.
The win moved the Cats (10-14-2-2) within six points of the fourth-place Giants (12-13-2-2), who are tied in points with the third-place Kamloops Blazers.
“(Friday) night we played 45 minutes of good hockey but we had to have a couple of lapses and that’s why we were losing hockey games,” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk. “(Saturday) we were close to a 60-minute hockey game and that was the difference. We’re a team that can’t take shifts off or take periods off, that’s not us, and when we play the way we should, it’s nice to see.
“Taylor made some big saves early, they were game-savers, and right now I’m leaning towards him for Tuesday.”
LOOSE PUCKS: The Kootenay Ice visit Prince George tonight. The B.C. Division-leading Victoria Royals are in town for games next week on Sunday, Dec. 10 (Teddy Bear Toss afternoon) and Tuesday, Dec. 12… The three stars were: 1. O’Brien, 2. Gauthier, 3. Morrison.