Cougars Drop a 4-3 Overtime Game in Kamloops.
Friday night in Kamloops, the Prince George Cougars dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Kamloops Blazers. The Cougars held leads of 2-1 and 3-2 but were unable to hold on. Josh Connolly tied the game for Kamloops with 67 seconds left in regulation, and Matt Needham potted the overtime winner on a power play. The Cougars got their goals from Colby McAuley, Brad Morrison and Sam Ruopp.
After the first period, the game was scoreless with Kamloops holding a slight edge in the shots department. Both Connor Ingram and Ty Edmonds stood tall in their respective nets, and did their part to keep the game scoreless.
Early in the second, Kamloops struck first when 16-year-old Jake Kryski stole the puck at the Blazer blueline, raced in all alone and snuck a shot past the stick of Ty Edmonds for his second of the preseason.
Back came the Cougars though when Kamloops got into some mid-period penalty trouble. First it was Colby McAuley who knocked home a Haydn Hopkins rebound for his fifth of the preseason to even the score, and less than six minutes later the Cougars took the lead when Sam Ruopp beat (the new Blazer goaltender) Cole Kehler with a one-timer from the right point. Both Cougar goals came via the power play, and the visitors took a 2-1 lead to the second intermission. They outshot Kamloops 13-6 in the middle frame.
The Blazers, however, would return the favor early in the third on a power play of their own. Import defenceman Patrick Maier tied the game at two with a seeing-eye point shot from the left side that snuck it’s way through a maze of bodies and in. It was Maier’s first tally of the preseason.
Brad Morrison helped restore the Cougars lead at 14:04 of the period when he zig-zagged his way through a couple of Kamloops defenders before roofing one over the left should of Kehler for his first goal in preseason play.
Late in the game with the net empty, the Blazers would find the equalizer. Off an offensive zone faceoff, defenceman Josh Connolly grabbed a loose puck in the slot, skated to the right wing and snuck a shot past Tavin Grant.
Kamloops came extremely close to winning the game in regulation, but Tavin Grant made a stellar diving save off of Quinn Benjafield to force the extra period.
In overtime the Prince George Cougars got their chance to win the game on a power play, but were unable to convert. Seconds after the Cougars power play had expired, Brad Morrison was sent off for tripping, and the Blazers’ winning goal would come shortly thereafter.
Deven Sideroff’s one-timed shot was denied by Tavin Grant, but Kamloops captain Matt Needham got to the rebound first, and tucked it into the empty net to secure the victory for his team.
The Cougars power play finished two-for-seven while the Blazers countered with a two-for-four effort. The Cougars slightly outshot the Blazers 30-28.
With that, the Cougars preseason comes to an end. They finish with a record of 3-0-2-0, and will now get themselves prepared for their regular season opener which kicks off on Saturday, September 20th in Portland.
