Listen Live
Listen Live

Americans offensive outburst salvages road split against Cougars

It’s not often the second game of the season is considered a bounce back.

For the Tri-City Americans, they had no choice after getting pumped for nine goals the night prior.

A two-goal effort by newly acquired defenceman Pavel Bocharov lifted the Ams to a 6-4 road victory Saturday over the Prince George Cougars in front of 2,399 fans at the CN Centre.

Right from the opening puck-drop, Tri-City swarmed rookie netminder Joshua Ravensbergen making him look mortal between the pipes.

At 8:27 of the first period, a point blast by Jackson Smith found the stick of Jake Sloan who jammed home the rebound to give the Americans an early 1-0 lead.

Less than three minutes later, Bocharov made his presence felt, capitalizing on a Jordan Gavin feed on a 3-on 2 rush beating Ravensbergen doubling the Tri-City advantage.

Prior to the intermission, the Cougars clawed their way back as a routine clear out from Ephram McNutt found Terik Parascak leading to a 2-on-1, beating Tri-City goaltender Nick Avakyan making it a 2-1 game after 20 minutes.

The offensive fireworks continued into the middle period. A Jackson Romeril roughing call led to a Cougars power-play that carried over – a point shot from Hudson Thronton got past a screened Avakyan to even the score.

However, Tri-City re-took the lead with a power-play goal of their own. This time, it was Gavin converting on a Sloan feed to solve Ravensbergen.

The bad blood between the two Western Conference rivals seeped through with a festive scrap between Cougars rookie Aiden Foster and Ams first year blueliner Jaxen Adam, bringing the crowd to its feet.

Oren Shtrom put the Cats back on even terms with a blue-collar shift, stripping the puck from Sloan behind the net, shoveling a back between the wickets of Avakyan.

It seemed for everything the Cougars did right offensively, Tri-City always had a timely response. Case in point, a Bocharov point blast with five seconds remaining in the second found its way past Ravensbergen giving them a 4-3 edge.

Sloan added his second of the game for the Americans at 1:28 of the third period. A pass behind the goal from Deegan McMillan found the blade of the 19-year-old forward who made no mistake.

Viliam Kmec added his fourth of the season for the Cougars late in the third.

With Ravensbergen pulled, Sloan completed the hat-trick sliding the puck into a yawning cage to ice the victory.

Gavin, Sloan, Bocharov and McMillan all had multi-point night for the Americans (1-1). Zac Funk and Hudson Thronton were the only Cougars who had at least two points.

Tri-City went 1-for-6 on the power-play while PG was 1-for-3.

The Cougars outshot the Americans 32-29.

Both teams were without a number of their star players due to NHL camps.

PG was without Koehn Ziemmer (Los Angeles), Riley Heidt (Minnesota) and Ty Young (Vancouver).

Tri-City has Parker Bell away at Calgary Flames camp, the 20-year-old recently signed his entry-level contract. In addition, smooth skating defenceman Lukas Dragicevic is at camp with the Seattle Kraken.

Dragicevic led the Americans in scoring last season with 75 points while Bell ranked second with 64.

Tomas Suchanek was scratched for both games by the Americans who currently have six overagers on their roster, the league limit is three.

PG’s (1-1) next action is a road doubleheader next Friday and Saturday in Victoria against the Royals from the Save-on-Foods Memorial Arena.

You can catch the action with Cole Waldie on 94.3 The Goat.

Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Brendan Pawliw
Brendan Pawliw
Since moving to Prince George in 2015, Brendan has covered local sports including the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Prince George Spruce Kings, UNBC Timberwolves, Cariboo Cougars AAA, and Northern Capitals U18 female hockey teams. Career highlights include play-by-play during the Spruce Kings' BCHL championship runs in 2018 and 2019, including the Doyle Cup win. He also covered the 2019 National Junior A Championship, the 2017 Telus Cup, the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship, and the 2022 BC Summer Games. Brendan is the news voice on 94.3 The Goat and Country 97 FM, reporting on crime, real estate, labour, and environmental issues. Outside of work, he officiates box lacrosse and fastball, sits on the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame board, and co-hosts the Hockey North podcast.

Continue Reading

cjci Now playing play

cirx Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

June home sales were hot across the BC Northern Real Estate Board

Northern BC home sales were ahead of their 10-year average in June after 476 unit sales were made according to the BC Real Estate Association. That's a year-over-year spike of 11.7% when compared to the same time last year.

Kids Carnival returning to Huble Homestead this weekend

Huble Homestead is inviting families to its Kids Carnival taking place on Sunday.

More members, but not more meetings for Heritage Commission, City Council decides

Prince George City Council voted on a number of recommendations from the City's Heritage Commission at last night's (Monday) meeting.  During a regular council meeting in March, Prince George Heritage Commission Chair Dr. George Davison outlined many of the issues the Commission has been facing, such as a reduced number of meetings, and a reduction in City staff support. 

B.C’s youth watchdog says more work needs to be done, one year after report on systemic failures

One year after a report by British Columbia's Child and Youth Representative on the horrific death of an Indigenous boy in care, the province is still working on an action plan for systemic changes to children and youth social services.

City Council approves budget to replace damaged garbage truck

Prince George City Council has voted to replace a garbage truck in the city. At last night's (Monday) meeting, City Council approved a budget of $750,000 for the purchase.  According to Director of Civic Operations Blake McIntosh, this will replace a garbage truck damaged in a motor vehicle incident in May last year. 
- Advertisement -