Mark Lamb’s belief in a turnaround after his players dealt with a bout of sickness came up aces.
The Prince George Cougars capped off a perfect three-game road trip running the table after securing a dominant 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants on Sunday in front of 4,412 fans at the Langley Events Centre.
Carson Carels opened the scoring at 18:48 of the first period as his wrap around attempt snuck inside the bar past Giants goaltender Burke Hood for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
PG flexed its muscles in the middle frame with a trio of goals in a span of seven minutes.
Townes Kozicky transitioned the Cougars from defense to offense in a jiffy, chipping a loose puck to the stick of Dawson Seitz who then sprung Jett Lajoie on a breakaway who went five hole on Hood for a 2-0 edge.
Kozicky then made another smart play from just outside the Vancouver blueline flicking the puck to a streaking Riley Ashe who unleashed a backhand over the shoulder of Hood.
Arsenii Anisimov added insult to injury as his blooper shot from inside the Giants zone fooled Hood, going over the shoulder and rippling the mesh for a commanding 4-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Brett Olson spoiled the Josh Ravensbergen shutout bid with 4:05 remaining in the third period courtesy of a Kayden Hayes pass.
Dmitri Yakutsenak added an insurance marker via an empty net giving the Cougars its four-goal spread back.
Prince George outshot the Giants 50-32. Both teams went a combined 0-for-6 on the power-play. Ravensbergen made 31 saves in the victory.
Hood on the other hand, stopped 45 Cougar shots and was named third star in defeat.
PG (26-16-2-0) pulls within five points of the Penticton Vees (26-9-4-3) of the B.C. Division lead – the Vees, owners of an 11-game winning streak, have two games in hand.
This was the first of three consecutive meetings for the Cougars and Giants (18-25-1-2).
Both clubs will lock horns Friday (7pm) and Saturday (6pm) at CN Centre.
Since returning from the World Juniors, Carels has points in seven consecutive games, tallying three goals and six assists in that span.
Earlier on the weekend, the Cougars beat Kamloops 7-6 in overtime on Friday and also beat Kelowna 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
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