The Prince George Cougars showed up late to the party and it cost them dearly.
A three-goal first period by the Vancouver Giants was too much to overcome on Saturday as the Cats dropped a 4-1 decision to the defending Western Conference Champions in front of 2,163 fans at CN Centre.
It was the Giants sixth-straight victory in Prince George, a streak that dates back to October 5th, 2018.
Seth Bafaro, Jackson Shepard and Justin Sourdif all took turns lighting the lamp in the first 8:02 of the game against Cougars goaltender Taylor Gauthier, who allowed three goals on seven shots before giving way to 16-year-old backup Tyler Brennan.
After the game, Cougars Head Coach Mark Lamb didn’t mince words about his team’s slow start.
“The way the games are, you have to be ready to start, you’ve got to be ready to play because they have a real good team over there. The Giants are not going to give you an easy night.”
One of the lone bright spots for the Cougars was the play of Mitch Kohner who notched his first career WHL goal after a feed from Craig Armstrong who also collected his first point in junior hockey.
The third member of the line, Tyson Upper, also picked up an assist on that goal, to give him three points in the two weekend games. (Vancouver won Friday’s opener 5-3)
The @PGCougars are on the board after a goal from @mitchkohner! #WHLOpeningWeek pic.twitter.com/pLmsKL2mbK
— The WHL (@TheWHL) September 22, 2019
For their efforts, Lamb rewarded them with more ice time.
“I thought the Armstrong line was our best line tonight so when you look at that, it’s a positive and now we need the other lines to fall into place. There are some really good parts we saw from tonight’s game but the start was terrible.”
After outshooting Vancouver 14-5 in the middle frame, Shepard dashed the comeback hopes for the Cougars scoring his second goal of the game early in the third.
“We really wanted to stick to our game plan and I think it was a super important first couple of games for our team here and I was lucky enough to play with two pretty good players that were setting me up well so I can’t thank them enough,” added Sheppard.
The trio of Bafaro, Sourdif and Shepard had a combined nine points for the 2-0 Giants.
Vancouver was a goal away from heading to the Memorial Cup last season falling in Game 7 of the WHL Final against the Prince Albert Raiders.
Bafaro believes the team is hungry to avenge the defeat, which was a pretty tough pill to swallow.
“I think none of us want to feel that feeling again so we’re definitely hungry to win it all.”
After two games, the early season stat line for Gauthier doesn’t look pretty with a goals against average of 5.90 and a save percentage of .800.
Brennan made 12 saves on 13 shots in relief.
David Tendeck picked up the win in goal for the Giants making 26 stops.
Cougars defender Cole Moberg exited the game in the third period and did not return.
He was spotted by MyPGNow.com with a sling in his arm during post-game workouts.
Former Cariboo Cougar and local product Jacob Gendron suited up for both games with Vancouver.
He is the son of former PG Cougar Shawn Gendron.
The Cats outshot the Giants 27-20 but went 0-for-5 on the power play.
Vancouver went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
Prince George (0-2) now travels to Vancouver Island to play the (0-1) Victoria Royals Friday and Saturday from the Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena.
Puck drop both nights is 7:05.
You can catch all the action with Fraser Rodgers on 94.3 The Goat.
Giants take both this weekend. #WHLOpeningWeek #NorthernUprising pic.twitter.com/CMWSbRmHFf
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) September 22, 2019