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Dowhaniuk turns the tide and douses Blazers

Rookie defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk had a breakout four-point night and it could not have come at a better time for the Prince George Cougars. They ended a longstanding slump against the Kamloops Blazers, beating them 5-1 in the WHL hub in Kamloops.

Rookie defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk had a breakout four-point night and it could not have come at a better time for the Prince George Cougars.

They ended a longstanding slump against the Kamloops Blazers, beating them 5-1 in the WHL hub in Kamloops.

Taylor Gauthier made 37 saves to give the Cougars their first win of the season against Kamloops after four losses.

The Cougars hadn’t beaten the Blazers since Jan. 25, 2000 and hadn’t won a game in the home of their closest WHL rivals since March 15, 2019.

The Cougars were at their opportunistic best in the second period and scored twice to take a 3-0 lead into the break.

Fischer O'Brien stripped the puck from Blazers defenceman Mats Lindgren just inside the Kamloops zone and the puck came back to Ethan Samson, who wired a wrist shot in through a crowd – the first goal of the season for the sophomore defenceman.

Midway through the period, Jonny Hooker collided with Blazers star winger Connor Zary, a Calgary Flames draft pick who helped Canada win silver at the 2020 world junior tournament. The impact of the hit spun Zary as he fell to the ice shoulder-first and he was injured on the play and did not return, while Hooker was assessed a minor penalty for charging.

During the ensuing penalty kill, Dowhaniuk blocked a Kamloops shot and took off a 2-on-1 with Tyson Upper. Dowhaniuk got the return pass and best goalie Dylan Ernst for his third goal of the season. It was the Cougars’ fourth shorthanded goal of the season.

Gauthier was outstanding in the opening period when the Cats were outshot 17-6 and he held the veteran-laden Blazers off the scoreboard until the six-minute mark of the third period. The 20-year-old goalie, one of three netminders on Canada’s world junior team, was sharp throughout the game as he improved his season record to 4-6.

The Blazers got on the scoreboard late in the game during their fourth power play of the night. Josh Pillar was standing on Gauthier’s doorstep and tipped in a point shot from Quinn Schmiemann. The goal was just being announced at Sandman Centre when Connor Bowie drove the net and scored his sixth of the season, with an assist from Dowhaniuk. The goal came 17 seconds after Pillar scored.

Dowhaniak was the Cougars’ fourth-overall choice in the 2019 WHL draft and he hooked up Koehn Ziemmer, the Cats’ third-overall in that same draft, to score the fifth goal during a Prince George power play. Dowhaniuk spotted Ziemmer in the face-off circle and he beat Ernst with a stick-side wrist shot.

Dowhaniuk, a native of Sherwood Park, Alta., now has three goals and four assists for seven points in 15 games.

Tyson Upper opened the scoring with an unassisted effort in the first period. The 19-year-old Upper drew top-six forward minutes filling in for injured Kyren Gronick on a line with Craig Armstrong and Ethan Browne. Upper turned in one of his best games of the season and was rewarded with a goal and an assist.

The Cougars were outshot 38-34. They wore the Blazers down as the game went on, outshooting them 16-7 in the third period. Kamloops was showing the effects of a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Vancouver Giants the previous night.

The back-to-back wins improved the Cougars’ season record to 6-7-1-1. They jumped into third place in the B.C. Division, two points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets. The Blazers (12-3-0-0) remained first in the division.

The Cougars have seven games left this season. They’ll host the Victoria Royals Friday night in Kamloops.

LOOSE PUCK: Canada doubled Latvia 4-2 Wednesday to improve to 2-0 at the IIHF World Under-18 Hockey Championship in Plano, Texas. Cougars’ goalie Tyler Brennan was the backup in goal Tuesday but did not play. Canada opened with a 12-0 win Tuesday over Sweden… Gronick is listed as day-t-day with an upper-body injury. The 17-year-old rookie from Regina has five goals and five assists in 14 games and is tied with Hooker for second in team scoring, each with 10 points. Armstrong leads the Cats with six goals and 11 points.