When playing elite teams, it’s often the little things that make a big difference.
The Prince George Cougars (5-6-0-0) found that out the hard way on Friday night dropping a hard-fought 5-4 decision in front of 2,059 fans at CN Centre.
With the game tied 2-2 in the dying seconds of the second period, Thunderbirds overage forward Jordan Gustafson took the contest over and capped off a slick three-way passing play that included Kevin Korchinski and Gracyn Sawchyn to give the visitors a leg up.
Seattle got off to a soaring start to begin the third as Edmonton Oilers prospect Reid Schaefer took the puck around the perimeter of the Cougars defensive zone and ripped a screenshot that deflected off Gustafson and past Tyler Brennan for a 4-2 edge.
The backbreaker for PG came six minutes later as Montreal Canadiens draft choice Jared Davidson lit the lamp for the second time in the game to put Seattle comfortably ahead by three.
“I think we were playing our system a little bit more in the last two periods. I think we were freelancing a bit in the first and so we got back to our game in the last 40 and I think it paid off for us,” said Davidson.
Who knew Ratz were so flexible.@SeattleTbirds pic.twitter.com/N3RmYc63uR
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 29, 2022
However, the Cougars didn’t go down without a fight as local product Fischer O’Brien collected his 2nd of the season beating Thunderbirds starter Scott Ratzlaff. In the dying seconds, Koehn Ziemmer potted his ninth of the campaign and second of the night on the man advantage to pair the deficit to 5-4.
“I think we played well,” said Brennan. “But we also have a few things that we can clean up as well, myself included. They are a good team over there and it proves that we can play with anyone and I think when we are on our game for 60 minutes, I think we can beat them. Good thing is we play them tomorrow and I expect we will come out strong plus a little bit more.”
The Cougars held a 1-0 lead at the end of 20 minutes as Ziemmer found a crease in the Seattle zone accepting a Carter MacAdams pass.
Make that 8 goals in 11 games for Koehn😻 https://t.co/9YmYz20d8x pic.twitter.com/3BAu3GUCos
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) October 29, 2022
All Seattle needed was a fresh sheet of ice to kickstart their offense prowess in the middle period as Lucas Ciona leaned in and blasted a shot past the stick side of Brennan to draw the T-Birds on even terms.
At 12:08 of the second, an errant pass by Cougars forward Caden Brown put Viliam Kmec in a trailing position inside their own blueline, which allowed Davidson to burst in and flick a backhand through the wickets of Brennan.
If they could’ve stopped Jared, they would’ve stopped Jared. @SeattleTbirds | @CanadiensMTL pic.twitter.com/6XPAVR83XM
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 29, 2022
Blake Eastman notched his first of the season courtesy of a smart chip play by Caden Glover, which sprung the Ardrossan, Alberta product free who then made no mistake on Ratzlaff.
oh boy oh (east)man oh wow 🤩 https://t.co/wCe8UEBwow pic.twitter.com/Fhl7W1ojPs
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) October 29, 2022
Seattle outshot the Cougars 35-29. Ratzlaff who is splitting time with regular starter Tomas Milic is 4-0-0-0 to begin the year with a 2.20 goals against average and .920 save percentage.
The Thunderbirds (9-0-0-0) are off to their best start in franchise history and have five drafted players in Korchinski (Chicago), Schaefer (Edmonton), Gustafson (Vegas), Ciona (Calgary) and Davidson (Montreal).
Seattle is ranked 4th in the entire CHL and is hungry to avenge last season’s six-game defeat in the WHL Final to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
With many familiar faces back and the potential arrival of Luke Prokop and Brad Lambert, the Thunderbirds are on a mission to finish the job.
“Being two games away from having the championship, it sits with you and was difficult to digest all summer, so everyone came back hungry, and we are gunning for that championship.” added Davidson.
Furthermore, Korchinski is second among WHL blueliners in points with 13, one behind Benjamin Zloty of the Winnipeg ICE (14).
Korchinski told MyPGNow.com that there are no easy nights for the Thunderbirds playing in the vaunted US Division that includes heavyweights like the Everett Silvertips and the Portland Winterhawks.
The road is even more difficult with the Kamloops Blazers hosting this year’s Memorial Cup.
“Up to this point we have only played Everett once, we haven’t played Portland or Kamloops yet but even last year it was a pretty heavy conference. We knew what the playoff hockey was going to be like last year, we had to play hard and physically and to play the right way and not get too fancy. We know that playing those teams will prepare us for playoffs again this year,” added Korchinski.
Prince George product and Cariboo Cougars alumni Nico Myatovic was held pointless in the victory. He has 7 points in nine games so far this season.
It’s not just the veterans who are driving the bus for the Thunderbirds. 17-year-old forward Gracyn Sawchyn is among the top rookie scorers in the WHL. He also ranks at or near the top in assists, penalty minutes and plus minus.
His teammate, Tij Iginla, the son of former NHL superstar Jarome Iginla has five points in eight games.
Seattle has outscored their opponents 31-10 in their last four games. This was the Thunderbirds first win in PG in 1,745 days – their last victory prior to this came on January 17th, 2018 when they defeated the Cougars 7-4.
Both teams play the second half of their double header tonight (Saturday) at 6pm.