Vancouver 4 - Prince George 3 (Shootout)

Sunday in Vancouver the Prince George Cougars earned one point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. James Henry scored the lone goal in the shootout to give Vancouver the victory.

The Giants lead 1-0 after one period. Marek Tvrdon roofed a back-hander over the glove of Devon Fordyce to give his team the lead.

Credit the Cougars though for staying strong. They had some good scoring chances and played a solid 20 minutes.

The Cougars patience was rewarded in the second when Jordan Tkatch stole the puck from the Giants defender while short-handed. He raced in alone on Adam Morrison and roofed it over his right shoulder to make it 1-1.

Early in the third period the Prince George Cougars took the lead when Spencer Asuchak converted on the power play for his sxith of the year. For Asuchak it was his fourth goal in three games.

Just over a minute later the Cougars extended their lead when Chase Witala sent a wrist-shot towards the goal. His shot hand-cuffed Adam Morrison and ended up in the back of the net. For Chase Witala it was his first WHL goal and the Cougars led 3-1.

The Giants inched their way back when James Henry converted on a Giant’s power play opportunity.

The Giants tied the game with less than two minutes remaining and the net empty. Brendan Gallagher pounced on a loose puck and beat a sprawling Devon Fordyce to make it 3-3.

Overtime solved nothing.

Devon Fordyce shut the door on Brendan Gallagher in the shootout, but Troy Bourke was unable to score in response for Prince George. James Henry then buried for Vancouver to give them the shootout lead. Even though Marek Tvrdon was stopped by Fordyce, neither Martin Marincin or Jordan Tkatch were able to capitalize, and the Giants escaped with the extra point.

The Cougars ended the night one-for-four on the power play while Vancouver went one-for-three. The Cougars were outshot 32-29.

The one point does help the Cougars statistically. They now leap-frog the Everett Silvertips, and are now tied with the Seattle Thunderbirds with 14 points. The Cougars are only one point back of the Kelowna Rockets for eighth place in the Western Conference. The Cougars host the Rockets Friday at CN Centre.