The Prince George Cougars brought more than 8,000 fans at the CN Centre to their feet this weekend as they hosted the Kamloops Blazers, and they certainly gave them plenty to cheer about Saturday night.
On top of scoring five goals in the middle period for a second consecutive game, which would lift them to a 6-1 rout of Kamloops, forward Jansen Harkins made club history by tallying his 240th career point as a Cougar.
.@JansenHarks26 makes @PGCougars history; becomes all-time points leader with assist on team’s 6th goal tonight @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/rYnkfcd5qs
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 5, 2017
The new record came on assisting to the team’s lone lamp-lighting in the third period, surpassing former Prince George player Chase Witala.
“It’s a surreal feeling! Leading up to the game, everyone kept asking me about it,” said Harkins on the milestone.
“At the time, it seemed so far away, but we’ve had good games and I honestly just wasn’t really expecting it. The main focus was playing good and getting a win for the team.”
The Winnipeg Jets prospect was quickly humble to say the game was more about beating Kamloops than reaching the plateau.
“I was just wanting to contribute as much as I could on the power-play; once I got two points, it was about keeping the play intact and seeing what happens after that.”
Despite the stellar goaltending by Blazers’ netminder Connor Ingram in the first period, Colby McAuley decided afterwards to put on a clinic of his own.
The Sherwood Park, Alberta product put up a four-point performance, netting two goals within 102 seconds of each other in the second period and adding two helpers, including one during Harkins’ historical feat.
“It’s just awesome to be playing with a guy like him,” says the 20-year-old on Harkins.
“He’s good on and off the ice; he’s a real leader and extremely well-deserving of the honour.”
McAuley says Harkins’ is also a great example of how Prince George has diverse goal-scorers.
“No one’s being selfish out there; they put their own stuff aside and we wanted to play as a team.”
.@JansenHarks26 gets 1st Star, recording his 240th point as part of @PGCougars in tonight’s 6-1 beating vs. @blazerhockey #CityOfPG @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/zg4RRfoNoY
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 5, 2017
Jesse Gabrielle, Kody McDonald, and Nikita Popugaev rounded out the remaining three tallies of the night; Kamloops’ Garrett Pilon put up the only goal for the visiting squad 5:17 into the opening frame.
Cougars’ goaltender Ty Edmonds made 22 saves for his 29th victory of the season, while Canadian World Junior netminder Ingram faced a total of 57 shots, only to stop 51 of them.
The Cats improve their record to 42-20-3-2, pulling within one more of their franchise record of 43 wins.
Prince George currently sits four points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets in the BC Division, who won their home game tonight 4-2 over the Tri-City Americans, and are now tied for first in the WHL’s Western Conference with 89 points.
Prince George will head down south to Oregon for a meeting with the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday, March 8th.
With five games left in the regular season, four of them on the road, the Cougars will return home for their final game on March 18th against the Blazers.
HIGHLIGHTS:
HISTORY MADE!@JansenHarks26 became the franchise scoring leader in A 6-1 win.
READ: https://t.co/rsCjifsCOE
WATCH: https://t.co/Yyvk5sGM2g pic.twitter.com/AgcR4IWoj8— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) March 5, 2017