Image Credit: Kamloops Blazers

By Victor Kaisar

Blazers 6 Cougars 3

Blazers cap off four-point weekend for first win streak in two months

Jan 12, 2025 | 9:40 AM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Blazers capped off a four-point weekend with a 6-3 win over the Prince George Cougars Saturday (Jan. 11) night, giving them their first win streak in over two months.

Nathan Behm and Tommy Lafreniere combined for six points at Sandman Centre as the Blazers beat the Cougars for the first time this season.

“Great weekend for the guys,” Blazers Head Coach and General Manager Shaun Clouston said, referencing Friday’s come-from-behind overtime win against the Vancouver Giants. “Really felt they came together as a group and battled hard for each other.”

The Cougars struck first at 3:36 of the opening period through Arseni Anisimov, but that lead only lasted for about five minutes before the Blazers took control with five unanswered goals.

Goals from Matteo Koci – on the five-on-three advantage – and Jordan Keller had the Blazers up 2-1 after 20 minutes, before Behm added to the tally with the only goal of the second period.

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Captain Emmitt Finnie then extended his point streak to 11 games with a power play goal at 11:13 of the third period. Max Sullivan also pounced on the power play about a minute later as the Cougars continued to run into penalty trouble.

Koehn Ziemmer ended the Blazers’ run of goals with a power play marker of his own at 13:58 to give the Cougars a glimmer of hope, which was snuffed out when Behm potted his second of the game at 16:26.

Borya Valis tacked on a late consolation short handed goal in the final couple of minutes but it was too little, too late for the Cougars, who fell to the Kelowna Rockets by a 6-3 margin on Friday night.

Lafreniere finished with three assists on the night, while rookie Czech forward Vit Zahejsky recorded his first multi-point game in the WHL.

Dylan Ernst was stellar in net, as he turned aside 40 of 43 Cougars shots to pick up the win. Joshua Ravensbergen allowed six goals on 37 shots in a losing effort for the Cougars.

“Its a huge confidence booster. We were coming off a tough stretch,” Ernst said post-game. “I think we needed to beat a couple top teams and now we know we can beat anybody and we just have to use that mindset into our next games.”

The Blazers improved to 15-21-3-0 and sit in 10th place in the Western Conference with 33 points from 39 games. The 24-12-3-2 Cougars remain in second place in the Conference, though they’re tied with the Victoria Royals with 53 points from 41 games.

Next up for the Blazers is a pair of road games against the Royals on Friday and Saturday next weekend. Their next home game is Wednesday, Jan. 22 against the Brandon Wheat Kings.