Did Friday’s 4-1 Vancouver Giants victory over the Prince George Cougars look similar to the Giants 3-1 win over the Cougars on Saturday?
It sure did.
On both nights, Giants goalie Jesper Vikman lost his shutout bid in the final minute of the game on a Carter MacAdams goal.
On both nights, the Giants opened the scoring on a power-play goal.
On both nights, Vancouver sealed the game with an empty net goal.
On Saturday, Vikman made 24 saves for the (18-23-2) Giants who swept the weekend doubleheader before 2,051 fans at CN Centre.
Payton Mount scored the winning goal shorthanded late in the second period and added an assist.
Mount squeezed his shot from the right wing through Tyler Brennan’s pads to put Vancouver up 2-0 through 40 minutes.
Special teams were the difference, as the Giants scored once on the power-play and picked up two shorthanded goals, the last into an empty net.
The game summary and highlights are right here.
It was the 5th straight loss for the Cougars (0-4-1), who have only scored six goals in that losing skid.
Prince George has not scored more than two goals in each of its last 10 games (record of 1-8-1 over that stretch).
The (18-25-2-1) Cougars visit the (26-11-1-3) Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday before hosting the Rockets Friday and Saturday.
Prince George is 3rd in the B.C. Division and 6th in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Vancouver with the Giants holding three games in hand.
P.G. is 5-6 in 11 games against Vancouver and 15-16-0-1 against the B.C. Division.
The Cougars are 3-17-1-1 against the top five teams in the Western Conference and 15-8-1-0 against the four teams below them in the Conference.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Cougars: Carter MacAdams
Giants: Fabian Lysell, Payton Mount, Ty Thorpe
Goaltending
Cougars: Tyler Brennan (L), 59:31, 21 saves, 23 shots
Giants: Jesper Vikman (W), 60:00, 24 saves, 25 shots
Shots
Cougars: 25
Giants: 24Â Â Â
Power-Play
Cougars: 0/3
Giants: 1/3
Three Stars:
(All from Vancouver)
1) Jesper Vikman 2) Payton Mount 3) Fabian Lysell
Whole lotta games, whole lotta goals, whole lotta saves, whole lotta fun! #WHLScores pic.twitter.com/ZMbeNxEcC7
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 13, 2022
The WHL standings are right here.
The PG Cougars regular season schedule is right here.
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller does part 2 of his chat with former @PGCougars owner Rick Brodsky
| https://t.co/HnhFXfJKCZ #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #northernuprising #sports pic.twitter.com/AvS9cN08gh— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 10, 2022
With files from Fraser Rodgers