BLAZERS WIN THRILLER 5-3 OVER COUGARS
The Kamloops Blazers hosted the Prince George Cougars for a Tuesday night game.
16-year-old Kaeden Tate got the start in goal for Kamloops after being recalled with Ivans Kufterins representing Latvia at the World Juniors. The night also marked a milestone for Eli Tverdovsky, who made his highly anticipated WHL debut after being selected by the Blazers in the WHL U.S. Draft.
Kamloops came out with the early jump as Andrew Thomson fired a shot through an Owen Cooper screen that beat Alexander Levshyn to make it 1-0. Prince George responded quickly, however, as Aiden Foster broke in alone on a breakaway and snapped a glove-side shot past Tate. The Blazers nearly regained the lead on the powerplay when J.P. Hurlbert threaded a cross crease pass to Nathan Behm that was robbed by Levshyn.
Tate was tested early on in the second, making several key saves and keeping the game deadlocked. The Blazers began to build momentum, generating chances from Josh Evaschesen and Cooper Moore, but both were denied by Levshyn. Prince George would get the go ahead goal on a powerplay as Brock Souch went five hole on Tate to make it 2-1 midway through the period.
Kamloops nearly found an equalizer moments later when Tverdovsky was left all alone above the faceoff dot, but the rookie couldn’t solve Levshyn. The Cougars then extended the lead by two, as Foster picked up his second goal of the night, making it 3-1. Looking to swing momentum in their favour, the Blazers responded with increased physicality, mixing it up with the Cougars along the boards which saw Hurlbert even get tangled up with Cougars forward Dmitri Yakutsenak.
Kamloops opened the third with pressure, firing on all cylinders and were rewarded when Kayd Ruedig wired a laser of a shot into the back of the net, cutting the lead to just one. Moments later, Tate delivered the save of the night, stretching out his stick to rob Souch on the goal line and keep the deficit at a single goal.
Hurlbert would then take matters into his own hands, weaving through Cougars defenders before jamming home his own rebound to tie the game Then, 9 seconds later, Evaschesen finished off a feed to give Kamloops a 4-3 lead. With the Cougars net empty, Carson Olsen fired the puck down the ice and into the net, sealing the game 5-3.
