Cougars’ Overtime Goal Deals Chiefs 4-3 Defeat

Andrew Luciak’s second goal of the game gave the Prince George Cougars a 4-3 overtime victory over the Spokane Chiefs in a Western Hockey League game Wednesday at Prince George, British Columbia.

Twenty-five seconds into overtime, the Chiefs’ Adam Magarrell, clearing a defensive zone, attempted to pass the puck. Brad Mehalko intercepted, and Luciak deflected it in for the winning goal.

Luciak had earlier intercepted a rink-wide pass and scored on a short-handed goal on a breakaway.

The victory reduces to four the Cougars’ magic number for clinching their first playoff berth in eight years.

The Chiefs are 5-2 against Prince George after seeing their four-game road winning streak come to an end.

Spokane trailed 2-1 and 3-2 in the second period before Magarrell scored on a slap shot for the only goal of the third period, tying the game at the 10:45 mark.

The Chiefs scored first on a backhander by Chad Reich 11:09 into the first period.

Prince George tied it at 1 on the first of its two short-handed goals on a shot by Blair Betts.

The Cougars took their first lead 4:45 into the second period when Quinn Hancock beat Miller from the left circle. It was his 33rd goal of the season.

Spokane tied it on an unassisted goal by Joel Boschman, then Luciak’s first goal put the Cougars back ahead 3-2.

In addition to allowing two short-handed goals, the Chiefs were 0-4 on the power play. Prince George was 0-6 on its power-play opportunities.

The Chiefs’ next game is at Tri-City on Friday. The Americans are battling Prince George for a playoff spot.

, DataTimes