Cougars give up third-period goals in loss

Three consecutive goals in the third period lifted the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-3 win Friday over the visiting Prince George Cougars.

The T-birds’ big guns – Nolan Volcan, Austin Strand and Donovan Neuls – all got into the scoring act in the final period in Kent, Wash.

Volcan started the period with a screened wrist shot that went in over the glove of goalie Tavin Grant. Then at 9:46, Strand took a crossice feed from Volcan to cash in a Seattle powerplay chance to make it a 3-2 game. Neuls scored a few minutes later at even strength, rapping in a pinpoint feed from behind the net from linemate Zack Andrusiak.

Aaron Boyd made it interesting late in the game, scoring on a 6-on-5 chance with Grant on the bench, but Andrusiak ended it with a shot into the empty net.

That ended a two-game losing streak for the T-birds (14-14-3-1), who moved three points ahead of the Cougars in the WHL Western Conference standings. The Cougars (12-15-32) remain 10th in the conference.

Cats defenceman Dennis Cholowski returned to his WHL teammates after a four-day tryout with Canada’s world junior team and he finished with two assists. Cholowski assisted on Josh Maser’s goal late in the second period which gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead when he chipped the puck out of the zone for Boyd. He sent Maser down the left wing with the puck and from a sharp angle Maser put the puck off the crossbar and in off the back of T-birds goalie Matt Berlin. The goal for Maser was his 13th of the season and seventh in his last seven games.

The Cougars dominated the first two periods, outshooting Seattle 28-16, but it was a much different story in the third period and the shots favoured the T-birds 11-7.

Reece Harsch gave Seattle a 1-0 lead 11:26 into the first period, a hard blast from the point after a face-off win from Matthew Wedman.

— see CATS, page 10