Cougars’ new trio shoots down Ams
Scoring leader McDonald sent to Raiders
Kody McDonald has played his last game for the Prince George Cougars. He’s been traded to the Prince Albert Raiders, pending league approval, and his last hurrah for the Cougars’ leading scorer came just before they skated out onto the ice at CN Centre Friday to face the Tri-City Americans.
McDonald has been a key ingredient on the Cats’ hottest scoring line the past four games especially and on Friday, with Josh Maser taking McDonald’s place on the right side playing with Jared Bethune and Nic Holowko, that new forward combination was pure dynamite.
They were involved in all four goals – including Bethune’s first hat trick of the season – in a 4-3 win over the Americans.
Tavin Grant was in great form from start to finish in the Cougars nets, making 34 saves as the Cats were outshot 37-20.
Bethune staked the Cougars to a 2-0 lead late in the first period with goals less than two minutes apart. The 20-year-old centre connected on a face-off circle one-timer fed to him from pointman Dennis Cholowski while on the power play at 14:42, then was the beneficiary of a Maser pass into the slot that he finished with a quick release from just outside the crease being defended by goalie Patrick Dea.
The Americans were a frustrated bunch at that point, knowing they’d outshot the Cougars by a wide margin but could not find the net, thanks to the 19-year-old Cougar netminder’s puckstopping antics. Grant was tested early and often and found his rhythm, gaining confidence with every missed opportunity. The shot count was 15-3 Tri-City before Bethune opened the scoring.
The Americans finally got on the board early in the second period. Nolan Yaremko got down on one knee to blast in a behindthe-net feed from Parker Aucoin. But Maser restored the three-goal lead, taking the carom off the end boards – a puck shot wide purposely by defenceman Josh Anderson to get the desired bounce into the slot.
The teams traded power-play goals in the third period.
Bethune’s 12th goal of the season, a wrister from in close, triggered the ballcap toss from the announced crowd of 2,855. Sasha Mutala cashed in the first Tri-City power-play goal of the night, rapping in a backhanded pass from Morgan Geekie.
Bethune could have had a fourgoal game but missed the net following up on a rebound after Dea stuffed Nic Holowko coming out of the penalty box on a breakaway chance with 4:29 left.
Although badly outshot, the Cougars played well in the neutral zone and won the special teams battles. They went 2-for-3 on the power play and limited the Americans to one power-play goal in five chances.
Dea was pulled to the bench with three minutes left and Riley Sawchuk’s rebound shot with the opposite net empty drew the Americans to within a goal with a minute left on the clock. But that’s as close as they got.
The win improved the Cougars’ season record to 15-18-4-2. The Americans (20-12-5-0) remained third in the U.S. Division. The same teams meet again tonight at 7 in the rematch at CN Centre.
LOOSE PUCKS: Terms of McDonald’s deal to Prince Albert were not announced. McDonald has been with Cougars’ organization since he was drafted as a 15-year-old bantam. He played three full seasons for the Cats and through 35 games this season led the team with 19 goals and 36 points in 35 games… The Cougars play seven of their next nine games at home. They’ll host the Vancouver Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday.