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WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Relinquish Lead

February 27, 2020 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


PRINCE GEORGE, BC- The Prince George Cougars were six minutes away from a crucial win but the Kelowna Rockets had other ideas, rallying late in the third period for a stunning 5-4 victory at the CN Centre Wednesday.

Kelowna's Matthew Wedman scored twice in two minutes, to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 win for the visitors. Wedman scored his second, the game-winner, with just over three minutes left in regulation. Kyle Topping, Tyson Feist, and Dillon Hamaliuk also scored in the win for the Rockets. Cole Schwebius made 24 saves to earn his seventh win.

Cole Moberg, fresh off a two goal, three-point night Tuesday, scored another two goals Wednesday; he was named the game's second star. Connor Bowie and Vladislav Mikhalchuk both scored in the first period for Prince George. Josh Maser finished with two assists in the setback. Taylor Gauthier suffered the loss in net after yielding five goals on 39 shots.

The Cougars won the special teams battle. Their power-play went 1-2 and the penalty-kill was 4-4. Prince George has scored a power-play goal in each of their last four games.

Prince George was tied 2-2 after 20-mintues with the Rockets and went up 3-2 and 4-3 but couldn't close out Kelowna, who has now won seven of eight games in the season series.

Just like Tuesday, the Rockets opened the scoring early. Tyson Feist scored just his second goal of the season at 2:22 on a seeing-eye shot from the blue-line. The Cougars did respond quickly.

Vladislav Mikhalchuk scored from the slot at 5:33 to tie the game 1-1. Then, after Dillon Hamaliuk made it 2-1 for the Rockets midway through the first period, the Cougars found a late equalizer in the dying moments of the opening frame. Connor Bowie, with just 31 seconds left on the clock, fired home his 12th of the season past the glove of Schwebius to tie the game again, this time 2-2.

In the second period, Cole Moberg grabbed the Cougars their first lead in the midweek doubleheader with the Rockets. On the power-play, Moberg let go a blast from the blue-line that went bar down at 4:19; his 11th goal of the season and third in two games. Moberg's tally was the only goal in the middle stanza, as the Cougars took a 3-2 into the second intermission.

Kelowna was off to another fast start in the final frame. Kyle Topping scored just 82-seconds into the third to tie the game 3-3. Topping scored on a rebound after Pavel Novak's point shot squeaked through Gauthier's pads.

Moberg snatched the lead back for Prince George midway through the third and during a four-on-four sequence. The Cougars used the extra room to their advantage, as Moberg took a drop pass on an odd man rush and sniped over the goalie's glove from the slot at 6:57; his second of the night and 12th of the season.

The back-and-forth third period continued, as Matthew Wedman scored his first of two in the frame with just over five minutes left. Wedman, from what appeared to be a near impossible angle, scored short side over Gauthier's shoulder to tie it 4-4 at 14:37. Wedman wasn't done there.

The 20-year-old scored the game winner two minutes and 17 seconds after his game-tying goal. Wedman followed the puck to the net after Dillon Hamaliuk was stopped after cutting to the net from the goal line . Wedman was there to clean up the rebound, roofing the puck over a pile of bodies in the crease with 3:06 left on the clock.

Prince George pulled Gauthier in favour of a 6-on-5 advantage late but could not manufactured any late game heroics like they did a night ago.

Game Notes: Josh Maser extended his point streak to seven games with his two assists. In the past seven games Maser has 11 points (3-8-11). Cole Moberg has four goals and five points in the last two games. The Cougars have now surrendered the opening goal in eight of their last nine games. Prince George is 1-5-2-0 against Kelowna this season. The Cougars remain 11 points back of the Seattle Thunderbirds for the final wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Next Up: The Cougars (17-32-4-4) wrap up their three-game home stand against the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night; the puck drops at 7:00 pm. Single game tickets start at just $13 per person. Tickets are available at the TicketsNorth box office at the CN Centre, or online at www.ticketsnorth.ca

Boxscore

Power-Play

Cougars - 1/2

Rockets - 0/4

Shots

Cougars - 28

Rockets - 39

Three Stars: 1) Matthew Wedman 2) Cole Moberg 3) Dillon Hamaliuk

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2020


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