The Squamish Cougars were ready for a fired-up Lumby Fighting Saints team, determined to avenge their loss to the Cats last Friday. And from the drop of the puck, the Cougars gave their fans plenty to cheer about.
With excellent positional play, the Cougars slowly took control of the game and skated to a well-deserved victory.
The Cougars defence set the tone for the game with interceptions and quick turnarounds off the boards. Saints' netminder, James Morrison stopped two early Cougars chances. Not to be outdone, Cougar keeper, Graham Hallenbeck stopped Tom Nagy cold on a rare Cougar turnover. The Cougars did kill two powerplays in the first period with tenacious checking and timely stops from Hallenbeck.
Cougars D-man Nils Hanfstingl had the fans on the edge of their seats with an end-to-end rush that Troy McLean just missed putting behind Morrison. Despite more late Cougar chances the period ended scoreless.
The Cougars established their presence early in the second with some solid bodychecks.
After killing off a penalty, Cougars' Jason Lee had an opportunity to open the scoring but put his shot into the chest of Morrison.
Kyle Ritchie brought fans to their feet after he hit Saints' Taylor Summerfelt with a solid bodycheck along the boards. He picked up the loose puck and just failed to beat Morrison on the low stick side.
Both teams opened the game up by mid-period and both goaltenders were called on to make huge saves.
Cougars opened the scoring at the 15-minute mark of the second when Ross Pattison intercepted a pass from the point. The rebound from Pattison's shot ended up on Spencer Samson's stickend, but he was stopped by Morrison. McLean picked up the puck and put it over the sprawled Saints goaltender.
The Saints came out in the third period determined to equalize the score.
Their extra energy caused the Cougars to take an early penalty, but the Cats had better chances while shorthanded, including a Pattison breakaway that Morrison stopped. A few minutes later, the Cougars found themselves on the powerplay. Jeff Brown picked up a loose puck in the corner. A quick pass to the point for Hanfstingl, who shot the puck low across the ice that Morrison easily handled. McLean grabbed the rebound and tucked it behind Morrison to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
The Saints responded to the Cougar goal with one of their own. A rare defensive breakdown by the Cougars allowed Saints Brandon Ophus to go end to end with the puck. His shot was blocked by Hallenbeck but Nagy was there to slide the rebound past the Cougars' stopper.
But the Saints comeback was shortlived as the Cougars stormed back to restore their two goal lead. Off the face off Pattison chased the puck in behind the Saints net. He tapped the puck off Morrison's stick to McLean in the corner. McLean found Samson in the slot and he elevated the puck high over Morrison's glove. McLean got his hat trick with an empty net goal to complete the scoring.
"I'm very happy with the result, Lumby is a tough team to get a lot of goals on," commented Cougars' coach Matt Samson
"It would have been nice to get Hallenbeck his first shutout, I think he deserved it."
Saints' coach Colin O'Hara felt the Saints dominated the first period.
"After that our work ethic stopped, I think our guys were happy where they were," he said.
Sunday afternoon the Cougars travelled to the Interior for a rematch with the Osoyoos Spurs.
Lee, Nick Johnston, Jeremy Ennis and Hanfstingl spotted the Cougars a 4-0 lead by the middle of the second.
The Spurs stormed back to tie the game 4-4 by the end of the period. McLean restored the Cougars' lead in the third with 11 minutes left and similar to last weekend, the Spurs tied it before the end of regulation time.
The game went into overtime and McLean scored with a minute to go to give the Cougars a 6-5 overtime victory.
Coach Samson called the game a wide-open affair with lots of two on ones and three on twos by both teams.
"I felt our team got complacent after we got our fourth goal," he recalled.
This weekend, the Cougars have two games against one team, the Bellingham Bulls.
Friday night the Bulls are in town to try and reel in the surging Cougars. Game time is 7:30pm at Brennan Park.
Don't forget to watch WHA Cougar Trails (sponsored by The Chief) on www.YouTube.com to see if you are the Fan of the Game!
