It wasn’t pretty, but the Prince George Cougars picked up their first win in 2026 in front of 3571 fans at Sandman Centre in Kamloops, nabbing a 7-6 overtime victory over the Blazers.
A three goal game, including the winner from sniper Jett Lajoie, helped end the team’s lengthy seven game losing streak.
“He’s had a full game, and that’s the type of player we know Jett can be, and he’s so valuable. When he gets like that he’s a little bit gritty, get a little chirping in your face, and when you can back it up like he did, it’s fun.” said assistant coach Carter Rigby on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
The Blazers led 2-1 after one with Lajoie getting the P.G. goal sandwiched in between a pair of goals from rookie sensation JP Hurlburt.
Kamloops scored twice more in the first 6:09 of the second period to grab a brief 4-1 lead, ending the night for San Jose Sharks first round pick Josh Ravensbergen, who only stopped 10 of 14 shots before getting the hook.
33 seconds after Alexander Levshyn came into the P.G. net, defenceman Arsenii Anisimov, scored in his 100th WHL game to reduce the deficit to 4-2.
Captain Bauer Dumanski, just back after missing five games with an injury, tallied at 12:35 and Lajoie got his second goal of the game at 15:42 to get the Cats even 4-4 after two.
“We hemmed them in their zone a little bit, got some offence, got our forecheck back tonight which seemed like it was good.” said Rigby.
The Cougars got their first lead of the game on a Lee Shurgot goal at 9:53 of the third with Jordan Keller of the Blazers tying the game at 5 at 14:25.
Prince George went ahead 6-5 with just 2:27 left on a goal from Dmitri Yakutsenak but the Blazers secured a point when Hurlburt (the game’s second star) completed his hat trick on the power play with 25 seconds remaining in regulation time.
That set the scene for the Lajoie, the first star of the game, as he completed his hat trick by tallying the winner at 3:41 of extra time to give the Cougars their first victory since December 28th.
THE BOYS ARE GOING! JETT LAJOIE CALLS GAME WITH A HAT TRICK!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/2R6D1EaItS pic.twitter.com/8xX7WBSFPO
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 17, 2026
The (24-16-2) Cougars continue their weekend road trip when they visit the (21-14-3-2) Kelowna Rockets tonight (Saturday) at 6:05 and the (18-23-1-2) Vancouver Giants Sunday afternoon at 4:00.
The PG Cougars schedule is here.
The WHL standings are here.
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