Blazers fly past Cougars

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
So . . . while you spent Christmas Day shoveling snow and trying to keep
warm, Brandon Underwood was on the beach about five minutes from his home in
San Marcos., Calif., which is, like, in San Diego County between Escondido
and Oceanside.
But a little beach-time wasn’t enough of a Christmas present for Underwood,
a 16-year-old freshman defenceman with the Kamloops Blazers.
No, that came Sunday evening when he scored his first WHL goal in a 7-1
victory over the Prince George Cougars before an announced crowd of 4,645
fans at Interior Savings Centre.
It was the Blazers’ second game since returning from their Christmas break;
they lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday.
“It was great,” the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Underwood said. “It was a good break
not to think about hockey for a while. But it’s good to be back.”
While in sunny California, Underwood admitted that, yes, he did do the
sun-and-sand thing.
“I went to the beach a couple of times, got a little tanned,” he said,
before smiling and adding: “It’s a little different here.”
Actually, it was positively balmy outside as the Blazers took it to the
Cougars.
“We had a pretty good game,” said Underwood, whose goal, at 13:30 of the
first period, turned out to be the winner.
With Michal Siska playing for Slovakia at the World Junior Championship, the
Blazers have shuffled their defencemen and now have Underwood playing
alongside veteran Nick Ross, a first-round draft pick of the NHL’s Phoenix
Coyotes.
“He’s a great player. Playing with a first-rounder, I couldn’t ask for
more,” Underwood said. “He’s a good leader for me. He looks out for me and I
learn something from him every day.
“I’m getting more ice time. I’m just trying to do what I’ve got to do . . .
play my game.”
As for that first goal . . .
“(Tyler Shattock) made a great pass and I took a slapshot,” Underwood said.
“I guess it went under (goaltender Joe Caligiuri’s) arm.”
Still, Underwood, who also did rather well in a third-period bout with
Prince George forward Greg Fraser, had to take something of a backseat to
Shattock, who is from Salmon Arm so isn’t believed to have enjoyed any
beach-time during the break.
Shattock, however, will take the five points he picked up against the
Cougars.
“Some times whenever the puck’s on your stick you get a lucky break and one
of those was tonight so I’m happy with that,” said Shattock, who had two
goals and three assists for his first WHL five-point game. Prior to this
one, he twice had picked up three points in a game. This was his fourth
two-goal game of the season and left him with a team-high 17.
Had he not left the right post and skated across to the other side on a late
third-period power play, he might have had a third goal, too. Moments after
he had moved, guess where the puck ended up?
“I know,” he said with a rueful grin.
Kenton Dulle, Linden Saip, also with his first WHL goal, Brady Calla, Scott
Wasden and Giffen Nyren also scored for the home boys, who held period leads
of 3-0 and 5-1.
Justin Maylan had Prince George’s lone goal.
“We are what we are right now,” said Cougars head coach Wade Klippenstein,
who was missing four of his top six forwards. “Obviously, our roster is
pretty thin. Last night (in a 4-3 loss to the Giants in Vancouver), we
competed and tonight we did in spurts but not near enough. Getting down the
way we did . . . we just don’t have the guys in our lineup right now to come
back. That’s the way it is.”
Kamloops goaltender Justin Leclerc, making his 11th straight start, stopped
24 shots. Prince George’s Joe Caligiuri turned aside 25.
“I thought their goalie outplayed our goalie and that was the difference
early on,” Klippenstein said.
On Saturday in Kelowna, defencemen Zac Stebner and Nyren scored first-period
goals for the Blazers, who watched Kelowna centre Colin Long score two
second-period power-play goals.
Kelowna forward Brandon McMillan, who drew an assist on each of Long's
goals, gave his side its first lead at 3:25 of the third period, only to
have right-winger Jimmy Bubnick force OT at 12:06.
Leclerc stopped 39 shots, 18 of them in the second period when his mates
were outshot 20-3, but was beaten three times in the shootout — by Long,
defenceman Tyson Barrie and Almond.
Kelowna’s Kris Lazaruk made 11 saves and added one more in the shootout. He
was beaten by C.J. Stretch and Dulle but preserved the victory by stopping
Bubnick.
“After the first period we didn’t play all that well. We let up . . . we
thought it was going to be easy,” Shattock said. “We quit doing what we had
been doing.”
The Blazers left for Kennewick, Wash., last night. They will meet the
Tri-City Americans there tonight.
“We’re going to face a good team in Tri-City,” Shattock said. “If we do the
stuff we did tonight I think we’ll be just fine.”
JUST NOTES: Referees Adam Byblow and Trevor Hanson gave the Blazers 10 of 18
minors and two of four majors. The Cougars took one misconduct, that to F
Tyler Halliday, a Kamloops native who now is an alternate captain. . . .
Stretch, who leads the Blazers in assists (31) and points (42), is pointless in his last five games. . . . Kamloops is 1-4 in shootouts this
season. The Saturday game was the first time this season the Rockets
(21-14-0-0) have played in OT.