The Prince George Cougars (19-25-2-1) snapped their five-game winless streak on Wednesday, with a 5-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets (26-12-1-3) at Prospera Place.
Carter MacAdams recorded his first career hat-trick to lead the offence. MacAdams was named the game’s first star. Cayden Glover and Ethan Samson also found the back of the net. Tyler Brennan picked up his 10th win, as he stopped 44 shots.
It was a big night for the Cougars’ power play as they scored twice on three opportunities.
With the win, the Cougars moved three points ahead of the idle Vancouver Giants for sixth in the Western Conference standings. Vancouver has four games in hand.
Wednesday was the Cougars second straight win in Kelowna, as they earned a 3-2 victory in their last encounter back on December 10th. The two teams head to Prince George for a weekend doubleheader starting Friday.
GAME RECAP
Cayden Glover opened the scoring two and half minutes into the first period. Glover, and his former Medicine Hat teammate, Carlin Dezainde teamed up to put Prince George ahead 1-0. Dezainde picked the puck up in the corner and found Glover in the slot, who fired over Jari Kykkanen’s blocker.
MacAdams scored twice in the second period to put the Cougars up 3-0. He scored his first of the game on the power play at 3:59. Jonny Hooker drove down the right wing and shovelled the puck out front to MacAdams who banged it in from inside the crease. His second came at 10:52 as he once again cleaned up a rebound in the crease. MacAdams finished off a rush by Caden Brown, as he found the loose puck in the blue paint.
In the third, Kelowna made it a 3-1 game at 8:25 on a goal from John Babcock, but MacAdams responded 58 seconds to restore the Cougars’ three goal lead. Hudson Thornton sent MacAdams in all alone from the Rockets’ blue line and he beat Kykkanen over the blocker for his hat-trick goal at 9:23 to make it 4-1.
Ethan Samson finished off the Cougars’ scoring with a power play goal at 11:51 that put the visitors up 5-1. Samson moved into the right circle and scored stick side.
Kelowna’s second and final goal came with just 36 seconds left in regulation.
NOTES
After his hat-trick performance, Carter MacAdams now has 10 goals on the season. He extended his goal streak to three games. MacAdams has five goals in his last three. Prince George is now 2-4-0-0 in six games against the Rockets. Wednesday was the Cougars first time scoring more than two goals in a game since January 19. They also handed the Rockets just their second home loss since December 28.