Brayden Watts broke a 1-1 tie with 50-seconds left in the third period, as the Vancouver Giants came back to beat the Prince George Cougars 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre.
Watts scored both of Vancouver’s goals, both power-play goals, including the game-winner with less than a minute left in regulation.
Jackson Leppard gave the Cougars a lead through 20-minutes, scoring his seventh goal of the season four-minutes into the game. That lead held up until midway through the second when Watts scored his first of two on the afternoon.
Sunday was a goaltending battle, as the Cougars’ Taylor Gauthier and the Giants’ David Tendeck combined to stop 62 shots. Gauthier was named the third star, stopping 32 of 34 shots. Tendeck was the second star, kicking-out 30 of 31.
Sunday was the Cougars final game of a five-game pre-Christmas road trip. The Cougars go into the Christmas break winless in their last five games.
ONE-TIMERS
ROAD WOES: Saturday was the Cougars’ seventh-straight loss on the road. Their last win on the road came back on November 11thagainst the Giants. The Cougars are now 4-10-1-1 away from the CN Centre.
SEASON SERIES:The Cougars are now 1-4-0-0 against the Giants this season but three of those four losses have been decided by just one goal. All three games at the Langley Events Centre this season between the two teams have been one-goal games.
UP NEXT:The Cougars (11-19-1-2) are back after the Christmas break off on December 28th, when they travel down south to face the Seattle Thunderbirds (11-16-3-0) at the Accesso ShoWare Center. It’s the first of six-straight on the road after Christmas.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
COUGARS [1-0] Jackson Leppard (7) unassisted – 4:02
SECOND PERIOD
GIANTS [1-1] Brayden Watts (6) from Davis Koch and Bowen Byram- 9:23 (power-play)
THIRD PERIOD
GIANTS [2-1] Brayden Watts (7) from Bowen Byram and Davis Koch- 19:10 (power-play)
SHOTS
COUGARS- 31
GIANTS- 34
POWER-PLAYS
COUGARS- 0/5
GIANTS- 2/5
-PG Cougars
