from princegeorgecitizen.com


Saturday, February 17, 2007
Cougars finally slay Giants
by JASON PETERS Citizen staff

The Prince George Cougars scored two wins at CN Centre on Friday night – a 3-1 triumph on the scoreboard, and a moral victory inside their dressing room.

The positive result was double-edged, because it came against the Vancouver Giants, who had beaten the Cats in all five previous meetings this season.

“The morale is huge in our room right now,” said forward Dana Tyrell, who drew the Cougars into a 1-1 tie in the second period with his 21st goal of the season. “It’s really great, the atmosphere is unreal. That’s the first time we’ve beat them this season and I think we really deserved it. We played really hard. We came out, I think we outbattled them, and it showed on the scoreboard.”

The Cougars overcame a sluggish start to the night to finally fell the Giants, ranked No. 6 in the Canadian Hockey League. Prince George was outplayed for most of the first period, even though the Giants – who drove all the way from Tri-Cities to get here – were the ones who had every excuse to be weary.

The Giants, who were handed four power plays in the first period, led 1-0 after the opening frame but were burned for two goals in the second.

First, Tyrell kept the puck on a two-on-one rush with Dale Hunt and fired a shot high into the net behind Vancouver goaltender Tyson Sexsmith. Then, just over four minutes later, the speedy Greg Gardner got in behind the Giants’ defence and stuffed a puck past Sexsmith while on his backhand.

“I’d say they were outskating us for the first 10 minutes of the first, but we soon realized they were outbattling us,” Tyrell said. “We realized that if we wanted to win this game we had to pick it up. Our coach gave us a talking-to in the dressing room and we came out and started flying in the second.”

In the third, the Cougars survived some early pressure from the Giants and then played smart, simple hockey after that. They were strong inside their own zone and cleared the puck most times when they had the opportunities.

Goaltender Scott Bowles came up with some timely saves when his team needed them and, with seven seconds to play, Evan Fuller hit an empty net for the insurance marker.

Tyrell, the hardest-working Cat all season, helped set up the Fuller goal when he dove for a puck at centre ice and got enough of his blade on it to knock it ahead to his teammate. Earlier, Fuller had missed a shot at the empty cage. He didn’t make the same mistake twice.

Bowles, who kept the Cougars alive in the first period when they were outshot 9-4, made his most important stop of the night while the Cats were clinging to their 2-1 lead in the third.

While Prince George was on a five-on-three power play, Vancouver’s Tim Kraus broke in alone on Bowles but couldn’t solve him. Bowles simply held his ground and Kraus, who got in too close to make a decent move, was stuffed.

“I felt pretty good,” said Bowles, who picked up his ninth win of the season and third in a row. “They got quite a few shots early and that’s always beneficial to getting off to a good start – facing some pucks and getting into the flow and rhythm of the game.”

Despite the significance of the win, Bowles didn’t get overly excited about it.

“We’re playing well right now and we just want to continue with that,” he said. “(Friday) was another step in the right direction but by no means are we satisfied with where we’re at right now.”

Vancouver’s lone goal was courtesy of J.D. Watt. On a first-period power play, he danced untouched through a trio of Prince George defenders and beat Bowles with a high shot.

The Cougars pushed their record over the magical .500 mark, now at 26-25-2-4 on the season. The Giants, meanwhile, now stand at 36-14-3-6. The Cougars held the high-powered Giants to just 26 shots on goal. At the other end, Prince George generated 16 shots.

The Cougars and Giants will be back on CN Centre ice tonight. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

“I think we’ve got to come out (tonight) just like we ended in the third,” Tyrell said.

“I think if we come out and have a good first period, get the first goal on them, that would be key. Outshooting them and just getting on the body, I think that will really make us successful.”

KITTY LITTER: Brian Gross, a scout for the San Jose Sharks, attended Friday night’s game to evaluate two of his organization’s prospects – Ty Wishart and Devin Setoguchi.