A sloppy serving of turnovers led to a pair of points being gift-wrapped to the second last-place team in the WHL’s western conference.
The Tri-City Americans made sure to say thanks stuffing it to the Prince George Cougars skating away with 4-3 road victory on Sunday in front of 5,153 fans at CN Centre.
Jakub Vanecek’s shot with 1:05 remaining in the third period beat a screened Josh Ravensbergen, earning a split on the road for the Ams (2-5-0-0).
Kooper Gizowski made it 1-0 PG on a wicked one-timer that beat Ams goalie Xavier Wendt, the Cougars found themselves skating in cranberry sauce as they were out shot 13-4 in the opening 20 minutes.
A give away outside the PG zone was pounced on by Tri-City forward Gavin Garland who performed some puck wizardry before dishing off to Crew Martinson who made no mistake to even the score.
Ismail Abougouche (Tri-City) and Jack Finnegan (PG) had a running beef with each other, which culminated in a spirited fight, which led to a game misconduct for both players who made sure to ham it up with the crowd before exiting the stage.
David Krcal’s made it 2-1 Americans at 1:43 of the second period on a severe case of turkey legs that plagued the Cats.
A feed from Savin Virk found a hole in the defensive zone coverage allowing the 18-year-old forward to re-direct the puck over the shoulder of Ravensbergen.
Following a missed chance on an odd-man rush, the Americans caught the Cougars with numbers in transition as Cruz Pavao capped off a slick feed from Virk to make it 3-1 for the visitors.
Carson Carels woke the Cougars up from their meat-induced coma by jamming home a rebound past Wendt to pull the hosts within one.
Townes Kozicky collected his first WHL point on the play with the primary assist thanks to his hot shot at the visitor’s goal.
However, Kozicky exited the game early in the third after colliding hard into the boards after losing his balance.
Bauer Dumanski tied it at 3-3 after his hard point blast grazed the inside of the post beating Wendt.
PG out shot Tri-City 30-25 while going 1-for-2on the power-play. The Americans failed to convert on their lone opportunity.
Wendt, who is slowly taking over the Americans crease, is now 2-2 on the season while Ryan Grout is 0-3 with a 6.45 goals against average and a .865 save percentage.
Grout was pried away from the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks in December of 2024.
Wendt, who is from Minnesota, spent the last three years with vaunted Shattock St. Mary’s prep program.
Virk and Vanecek took the game’s second and third stars while Carels was star one thanks to his three-point effort.
Next action for the Cougars is a mini two-game American road swing through Seattle (3-4-0-0) and Tri-City Friday and Saturday.
PG’s next home game is October 22nd against Medicine Hat.
Prior to the game, the Cougars recognized several first responders as part of Community Heroes Weekend.
In addition, a mega 50-50 jackpot was awarded with the winner taking home half of the $89,000
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