Cougars claw back for first win of 2018-19 season
A day removed from a 7-4 defeat in their home opener, the Burlington Cougars battled the Buffalo Jr. Sabres on Saturday afternoon at Appleby Ice Centre, emerging with a 4-3 victory in a physical, high-intensity tilt.
After going into the first intermission down 2-0, the Cougars added two of their own in the second stanza to tie the game heading to the final frame. The teams traded tallies in the third period before Cougars forward Josiah Degazon potted the game winner with under 5 minutes to play.
Despite a slow start, Cougars head coach Mark Jooris was quick to praise the resilience of his young team, including his goaltender Rahul Bola who secured his first win in his OJHL debut.
“They’re great kids and they don’t want to make mistakes so they’re thinking a little bit too much. Once they’re skating, moving and just playing we got a lot better,” Jooris said. “When it was a 2-2 game [Bola] made a really big save after we scored and that’s what you have to get; you need big saves.”
The Cougars employed a well-balanced scoring attack on Saturday, with Keanan Stewart getting things started in the 2nd period with his 2nd goal in as many nights, and already his 4th point of the season. Matt Steen then brought the Cougars even with a perfectly placed shot for a powerplay goal.
Despite finishing the game 2-for-7 with the man advantage, the Cougars special teams units picked up momentum as the game wore on, much to the delight of their coach.
“We’ve been getting in the zone regularly, we just weren’t getting enough second and third chances and today we won a lot of loose puck battles and it just started clicking.”
In the third period the Cougars traded goals and chances with the Sabres, before finding themselves in some penalty trouble late in the frame. Following some key shot blocks on a 5-on-3 by forward Matthew Hobbs, Degazon left his mark on the game.
The Cougars second-year forward flew out of the penalty box, picked up the puck on a breakaway just inside the Sabres’ zone and made no mistake, finishing with a highlight reel move over the shoulder of Buffalo net minder Jeremy Forman.
“It’s pretty ironic coming out of the box and scoring a goal, but I wasn’t trying to think too much - I just wanted to stay onside and just get a quick shot off and I got pretty lucky with it,” Degazon said. “It went in the net and we won the game.”
Although the Sabres gave the Cougars all they could handle in the final stages of the game with the extra attacker, Bola kept his cool in the crease to thwart the offensive onslaught and secure his first OJHL victory.
“We’re really excited for him, seeing him be able to get his first win,” Degazon added. “I think he surprised some people - he played a really good game and kept us in there for a while.”
Moving forward, the Cougars will have a few days off before travelling to take on the Milton Icehawks franchise on Thursday, September 13.
- Written by Pat Shields
