Before 4,893 fans, their largest home crowd of the season, the Prince George Cougars completed a weekend sweep of the Edmonton Oil Kings with a 4-3 victory.
Prince George took Friday’s opener of the doubleheader 5-1.
On Saturday, Jared Bethune scored twice, including the winner at 2:33 of the third, the only goal in the final period.
“We needed a big sweep this weekend. We went back to simplifying our game, getting pucks deep, doing the right things and it worked out for us,” said Bethune on 94.3 the GOAT’s post-game show.
The Insurance Goal of the Game tonight, scored by @bethune_21! ?
Checkout more #InsuranceGoals at https://t.co/TDvsuLrHIq #WHL pic.twitter.com/rv01gAYWD1— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) November 19, 2017
Brogan O’Brien and Ethan O’Rourke tallied in the first period for the Cougars, who have won three straight games for the first time this season.
Prince George built up a 3-1 lead early in the second period, only to see Edmonton tie the game with a pair of goals 3:20 apart.
Tavin Grant made 27 saves, including eight down the stretch in the third, as Oil Kings outshot the hosts 30-24.
“It’s a character win for our guys. I think once we got up 3-1, we kind of let off the gas a little bit and they came back quickly, said Head Coach Richard Matvichuk.
“We talked in between the second and third. We knew that these guys were on a long road trip, and not being very successful, they were going to battle right to the end. When we play our system, we play the way we should, we are pretty successful and we stuck with it in the 3rd period.”
FINAL:@bethune_21's cannon early in the third period the difference. @tavin_grant coming up BIG late. Cougars sweep the weekend. Win streak at: 3️⃣#WHL #CityofPG pic.twitter.com/2lVxBRdyei
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) November 19, 2017
The loss was the ninth straight for the 5-15-2 Oil Kings, who are last in the 22-team WHL.
The 9-9-2-2 Cougars remain two points back of the 3rd place Vancouver Giants in the BC Division.
The Giants whipped the Kelowna Rockets 6-1 Saturday night in Langley.
Prince George is also tied with Seattle and Everett for the two Western Conference wild-card spots, all with 22 points.
The Cougars host the 13-7 Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Tigers are the only team in the Central Division with a winning record.
STANDINGS ?: @PGCougars' win tonight moves them to a record of 9-9-2-2, but #Vancouver's win tonight still has the Cats 2 points behind 3rd place | #CityOfPG #WHL #United pic.twitter.com/hUkhziLcAP
— World Class Rock (@943theGOAT) November 19, 2017