Cougars lose to Kelowna but finish 6th; will play Portland in the playoffs

The Prince George Cougars lost their final regular season game on Saturday 3-1 to the Kelowna Rockets, but they moved up to 6th in the Western Conference standings.

The Cougars are in the playoffs for the first time in five years and will play Taylor Gauthier and the Portland Winterhawks in the first round with Game 1 of the best-of-7 series Friday in Portland.

Game 2 will also be played in Portland on Saturday, April 23rd before the series shifts to CN Centre for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday April 26th and 27th.

The if necessary games are Saturday, April 30th in Portland, Monday, May 2nd in Prince George and Wednesday May 4th in Portland.

The @pdxwinterhawks will take on the @PGCougars in the first round of the 2022 #WHLPlayoffs!

SCHEDULE 🗓️ | https://t.co/SPvTgmrcfJ pic.twitter.com/L5gVF6lrlZ

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 17, 2022

Prince George entered the last day of its regular season tied with the Vancouver Giants for 6th but Vancouver was technically sixth because the Giants owned the tiebreaker over the Cats based on head-to-head results.

The Giants lost 5-2 to the Blazers in Kamloops.

Also on Saturday night, the Spokane Chiefs beat the Victoria Royals 4-2 which eliminated Victoria from playoff contention.

The Cougars, Giants and Chiefs all finished tied for 6th with 53 points.

The Royals ended up 9th with 52 points.

Because of the three-way tie, the first tiebreaker is wins with Prince George, Vancouver and Spokane all with 24.

The next tiebreaker for three teams is goals for and against in the league.

P.G. was awarded 6th at -63 followed by Vancouver at -69 and Spokane at -101.

The Chiefs got 7th based on head-to-head results against the Giants.

Spokane will play #2 Kamloops and Vancouver will play Western Conference champion Everett in round one.

For the first time since 2001, the @blazerhockey will meet the @spokanechiefs in the #WHLPlayoffs!

SCHEDULE 🗓️ | https://t.co/cJZlC2C3SI pic.twitter.com/D3CcFyvg3I

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 17, 2022

The @WHLsilvertips & @WHLGiants will face off in the first round of the 2022 #WHLPlayoffs.

SCHEDULE 🗓️ | https://t.co/qNbTOda6dO pic.twitter.com/msoJBKONW1

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 17, 2022

Getting back to the game in Kelowna, the Rockets scored the first two goals 19 seconds apart midway through the second period.

Kelowna added an insurance goal in the third before Cayden Glover tallied with 4:19 left in the third.

The Rockets outshot the Cougars 28-19 with Ty Young taking the loss in net before 4,518 fans.

🎥SAVE OF THE NIGHT🎥

Ty Young goes back-to-back on ‘Saves of the Night’ because he’s just that good!@RealCdnSS | @PGCougars | #NHLDraft | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/9wbEULvLR3

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 17, 2022

Andrew Cristall scored twice for Kelowna with Colton Dach assisting on all three goals.

“I thought it was a game that we couldn’t carry over the physical execution and mental focus that we showed last night (Friday). Mentally and physically, we weren’t where we needed to be,” said Cougars’ Associate Coach Josh Dixon.

The Rockets ended up 5th in the Western Conference standings and will play the Seattle Thunderbirds in the first round.

In the Eastern Conference, the Prince Albert Raiders secured the 8th and final playoff berth after a 5-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Raiders meet the top team in the league, the Winnipeg Ice, in the postseason.

Tonight, we found our sweet sixteen. #WHLScores pic.twitter.com/x8kummHj5w

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 17, 2022

The WHL standings are right here.