How ‘SWEEP’ it was for the Prince George Cougars!
In a loosely played wacky game, the Cougars came from behind in dramatic fashion to beat Kelowna 7-6 and knock off the BC Division-leading Rockets for a second consecutive night.
(On Tuesday, Prince George won 4-1).
Wednesday before 2,545 fans at the CN Centre, Ilijah Colina scored his second goal of the game, on the power-play, with 18.3 seconds left to snap a 6-6 tie.
.@PGCougars take 7-6 lead on a PP goal from Ilijah Colina (@ilijahcolina17), his 2nd of the night, against the @Kelowna_Rockets with 18 seconds left | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/U5BVy7kpKV
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 1, 2018
Josh Curtis fired a cross-ice pass to Colina for the tap-in game-winner.
“My eyes lit up, I wasn’t going to miss that one,” said the 17-year-old Colina on 94.3 the GOAT‘s post-game show.
The Cougars trailed 3-0 in the first, 4-1 in the second, and 5-4 in the third, but they also held a brief 6-5 lead for 49 seconds.
Brogan O’Brien also tallied twice for PG, linemate Jackson Leppard added three assists as seven Cougars finished with multi-point games and 13 Cats picked up at least a point.
.@Brogs_97 has the @Kelowna_Rockets on their toes at 4-3, potting a feed up the middle to pull the @PGCougars within one tally in the 2nd | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/4nCtVLvOO3
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 1, 2018
The Rockets leading scorer, Kole Lind, a 2017 second round pick of the Vancouver Canucks, had a natural hat-trick in the first period and added an assist in the second.
Prince George failed to score the first goal for the 15th consecutive game.
The Cougars won back-to-back games for the first time since December 5th; their first sweep of the Rockets since October 1st, 2016.
“After the second period (trailing 4-3), going out for the third our resilience and our upbeat tempo from our young guys and then all the way thru the old guys was crazy. Their compete was off the charts and again that’s why we got four points in the last two games,” said Cougars Head Coach Richard Matvichuk.
Prince George outshot Kelowna 40-37.
Each team scored once with the man-advantage.
#WHLThreeStars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 28, 2018 pic.twitter.com/HcpHvT2Nhb— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 1, 2018
The (22-33-4-4) Cougars host the (35-24-3-2) Victoria Royals Friday and Saturday.
The Royals lost 5-1 Wednesday night in Kamloops.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
BC DIVISION STANDINGS:
Kelowna, 64 games = 38-20-4-2 (82 points)
Victoria, 64 games = 35-24-3-2 (75 points)
Vancouver, 62 games = 32-21-6-3 (73 points)
Kamloops, 65 games = 28-32-1-4 (61 points)
Prince George, 63 games = 22-33-4-4 (52 points)
WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD:
Tri-City, 62 games = 32-22-7-1 (72 points)
Seattle, 62 games = 29-24-7-2 (67 points)
Kamloops, 65 games = 28-32-1-4 (61 points)
Prince George, 63 games = 22-33-4-4 (52 points)
WATCH:
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