Cougars 6 - Raiders 3

The Prince George Cougars got their seven-game road-trip off to a good start with a 6-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. Alex Forsberg, Jordan Tkatch, Martin Marincin and Cody Carlson all had multi-point nights, and Drew Owsley made 33 saves for his second win off the season.

The Cats led 2-1 after one period. Nick Buonassisi opened the scoring with a short-handed marker which stemmed from some nice patience from Cody Carlson. Carlson faked a slap-shot, caught Cole Holowenko cheating, and slid a pass to Buonassisi who made no mistake. Spencer Asuchak made it 2-0 when he redirected home a Martin Marincin point-shot for his first of the 2011-2012 campaign.

The Raiders would get one back when Mike Winther tallied short-handed with 59 seconds remaining in the first period. Both teams recorded 15 shots in the first period.

Another first period highlight was when Wilson Dumais (playing in his first game of 2011-2012) received a penalty shot. Dumais made a great forehand move, but was denied by the right pad of Cole Holowenko.

Early in the second, the Prince George Cougars increased their lead to 3-1. Cody Carlson chipped a neat pass up to Jordan Tkatch, who raced down the right side and roofed one over the shoulder of Holowenko.

Justin Maylan’s fourth of the season put Prince Albert back within one, but the Cats quickly countered with Taylor Thompson’s deflection-goal on the power play and they skated into the locker room with a 4-2 lead.

Justin Maylan’s second of the night got Prince Albert back within one early in the third, but Alex Forsberg increased the lead back to two with a gorgeous wrap-around effort. Caleb Belter added the empty-netter to seal the deal.

The Cougars received a strong bounce-back game from goaltender Drew Owsley. Owsley stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced, and controlled his rebounds very well throughout the contest.

The Cats finished one-for-four on the man-advantage while Prince Albert went 0-2. As impressive as their six-goal out0ut was, their defensive play was also strong. Together the tandem of Dan Gibb and Cody Carlson was able to keep Mark McNeil and Brandon Herrod off the score sheet.

The victory improves the Cougars record to 2-1-0-1. They’ll look to continue their winning trend on the road tomorrow night in Saskatoon against the Blades.