A 50-save night from Jesse Sanche led the Kamloops Blazers to a 2-1 win over the Prince George Cougars Saturday night to split a weekend home-and-home series.

Sanche turned aside 47 of 48 shots in regulation and overtime, and followed that up with three saves in the shootout to lead the Blazers to their eighth win in their last 12 WHL games.

“It’s amazing, it’s a great rebound game,” Sanche said, post-game. “To lose up there that bad and then to come home and get the job done like that, it feels amazing.”

“It’s a little bit of revenge game for me. They embarrassed me last year in the shootout and it feels good to get a bit of revenge.”

It was also the Blazers first win over the Cougars in five meetings this season, with three more games left to go.

Both teams played a scoreless first period before Ashton Ferster got the Blazers on the board at 17:11 of the second period.

Fersty stays hot! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/AOKwPoKwuW

— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) February 18, 2024

The Blazers carried that lead into the third period, before Ondrej Becher’s 20th of the season at 12:11 brought the Cougars back level at 1-1.

Kamloops native Jordan Keller scored the only goal of the shootout to ensure the Blazers picked up two points on the night.

47(!) SAVE NIGHT FOR SANCHE KING! 👑 pic.twitter.com/tFKEmi5o1Z

— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) February 18, 2024

Cougars goaltender Ty Young was named second star after he made 28 saves on 29 shots in a losing effort.

While the Blazers sit in last place in the WHL standings, they improve to 17-31-3-2, giving them 39 points in 53 games.

The Cougars drop to 36-15-0-3, and sit second in the Western Conference with 75 points in 54 games. They joined Everett and Portland who also clinched playoff berths Saturday night.

Next up for the Blazers is a Family Day matinee game against the Victoria Royals. Puck drop from Sandman Centre is at 2 p.m..