Statement made.
The Prince George proved they will be a team to be reckoned with once the WHL Playoffs come around.
Thanks to another stellar performance between the pipes by Tyler Brennan, the Cats earned a critical sweep over the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday, skating to a 3-1 win in front of 1,696 fans at CN Centre.
“It’s big for our team in the standings in getting those four points and it shows we are a top team. They are a second place team in their division and I think we played a full team game. Everybody played the right way and showed up,” said Ethan Samson, Cougars captain.
“I think losing four straight to them in the playoffs was a tough pill to swallow so we made sure we took it to them when we had the chance.”
The second half of the early-week doubleheader was a mirror image of Monday’s dandy as both Brennan and Winterhawks netminder Dante Giannuzzi turned aside several chances to keep the game deadlocked.
A sharp angled shot by Cole Dubinsky struck the outside of the post late in the first period.
Meanwhile, Portland came within an eyelash of striking first as an innocent looking shot by Josh Zakreski squirted through the arm of Brennan and was swept out of the goal crease by an alert Hudson Thornton.
After four scoreless periods of regulation hockey, Cougars overage forward Jaxsen Wiebe finally broke the ice as he cranked the puck on a 2-on-1 at the 4:32 mark past Giannuzzi for a 1-0 edge.
“I think our team did a good job of keeping it simple. We dumped a lot of pucks in and we played really well defensively. They hit a couple of posts but you need that luck sometimes,” added Wiebe.
Since being acquired from the Edmonton Oil Kings, Wiebe has 20 points in 24 games, now playing on a line with Chase Wheatcroft and Riley Heidt.
The dual shutout streak has come to a close, and we aren’t that unhappy about it 😸 https://t.co/jWQXzS61pQ pic.twitter.com/jCAFYFzI9m
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) February 22, 2023
Several minutes later, the Cougars were forced to dig deep on the penalty kill.
A Zac Funk tripping infraction was followed up by a Dubinsky unsportsmanlike minor after dropping the gloves, attempting to fight a Winterhawks defenceman.
Moments later, Cats captain Ethan Samson found himself on a shorthanded breakaway after blocking a Portland blast, only to be hooked by Marek Alscher, resulting in a penalty shot.
However, the 19-year-old Philadelphia Flyers prospect was stopped by Giannuzzi.
“He is a good goalie. He played it well, I tried to get him to back off but he wouldn’t and I tried to sneak a little trick in behind him. I have done it a few times and it has worked so it was worth a try.”
Seven minutes after the momentous penalty kill, it would be the Cougars checking line that would provide some timely offence. Rookie forward Arjun Bawa took a hit to make a play and sprung Carlin Dezainde who went top shelf on Giannuzzi for a 2-0 edge.
Carlin Dezainde goes top-🧀 for his fourth of the year!@PGCougars pic.twitter.com/eSS3dRrlzb
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 22, 2023
The play of the period came off the pad of Brennan who stopped Zakreski point blank breakaway to preserve the advantage. The chance was created after import blueliner Viliam Kmec was gobbled up by the blueline monster, giving the sophomore forward more room to move.
In the third, play started to get chippy, due to frustrations setting in for the free-wheeling Winterhawks. Alscher, got called for a kneeing minor on Cougars forward Blake Eastman who had to be helped off the ice and didn’t return. Eastman had his season cut short last year on two similar plays in Victoria by Bailey Peach.
Later in the period, Dubinsky went from goat to hero on the same shift. After turning it over near his own end, the overager lit the lamp on a three-way passing play that involved Thornton and Kmec.
But, in typical Portland fashion, the Winterhawks threw everything including the kitchen sink at Brennan, finally cracking the goose-egg at the 16:54 mark. Luca Cagnoni redirected a Nicholas Johnson feed that found its way into the back of the goal.
Like a shot of lighting, Portland came in waves, coming within an eyelash of making it a one-goal affair. James Stefan ripped a blast on a 3-on-2 that whistled off the crossbar.
The turning point in the game came with under two minutes remaining where Jack O’Brien seemingly put the Winterhawks within one courtesy of a Robbie Fromm-Delorme pass. But, the goal was quickly called back due to a glove hand pass earlier in the sequence.
Portland outshot Prince George 35-32. Like Monday, both teams went a combined 0-for-8 on the man advantage.
The Cougars improved to 26-23-4-0 on the campaign, three points back of the Tri-City Americans for fourth spot in the Western Conference. The Winterhawks on the other hand, are winless in their last five outings (0-4-1-0) but remain in third in the conference with a mark of 36-14-2-3.
Brennan was named the game’s first start thanks to his 34-save performance. The 19-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba is playing his best hockey of the season going 8-1 in his last nine starts.
His numbers are seeing a nice improvement now holding a record of 14-9-1 with a 2.98 goals against average.
66 shots, 65 saves, 4/4 points, and elected to public office, all in two days 🥹@NJDevils pic.twitter.com/sSi5EzQ2P2
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) February 22, 2023
PG is on the road for back-to-back games this weekend. They begin with a Friday tilt against the Vancouver Giants from the Langley Events Centre followed by a Saturday night contest against the Victoria Royals.
“We need to stay on the gas pedal and keep it rolling. We need to keep building points to the end and especially these division games so we need those,” added Samson.
Both games can be heard on 94.3 the Goat.
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