Cats split series in Portland
The Portland Winterhawks gave the Prince George Cougars a teddy bear scare.
They had an opportunity to cage the Cougars again and complete a two-game weekend sweep Saturday during their teddy bear toss game in Portland – until Brad Morrison arrived with stick in hand.
Morrison took a pass in the slot from linemate Jansen Harkins and rifled the puck high into the net behind Aiden Hill to give the Cougars a 3-2 victory. The powerplay goal came with 6:07 left in the third period and the Cats hung on to record their 19th win of the season.
That left the third-place Cougars (19-101-1) two points behind the Victoria Royals (20-10-1-1) in the B.C. Division standings and seven off the pace of the first-overall Kelowna Rockets (23-7-1-0). The Royals, who lost two of three weekend games to the last-place Vancouver Giants, have played one more game than the Cougars.
The Cougars got an unexpected bonus Saturday from rookie import forward Bartek Bison when he gave them their first lead of the night.
Bison jumped out of the penalty box and started a left wing rush he finished by firing in a shot past Hill’s blocker. Bison’s second goal of the season came 13:28 into the second period, three minutes after Colby McAuley tied it with a shot from a sharp angle – the 28th shot Hill had faced.
Early in the third period, Rihard Bukarts made it a 2-2 game with his 15th of the season. Alex Schoenborn got the teddy bears flying with the first goal of the game on a Portland power play 3:27 into the second period.
Cougars goalie Nick McBride picked up his sixth win of the season, making 25 stops. Shots were 42-27 in favour of the Cougars. Cats winger Chase Witala was held off the scoresheet after racking up eight goals in the previous three games.
Portland beat the Cougars 5-4 on Friday, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period.
The Cougars are now in Seattle, where they face the Thunderbirds on Tuesday.
The Cats’ teddy bear toss game is Saturday.