The Prince George Cougars started off their three-game road swing on the wrong note with a 5-2 loss to the Everett Silvertips last night. (Wednesday)
The Cougars got off to a promising start, as Hudson Thornton opened the scoring 14:30 into the first frame in front of 4,357 fans at the Angel of the Winds Arena.
That’s our captain! https://t.co/tqzKR5LV2H pic.twitter.com/hckwpf0FAM
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) December 14, 2023
The Silvertips answered back just 29 seconds into the second, but the Super Rookie Terik Parascak scored 70 seconds later with a nifty drag move.
The Terik Toey™️#NHLDraft https://t.co/TkwsLWZLlH pic.twitter.com/Vbi2VfvsFj
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) December 14, 2023
After that it was all Silvertips as they scored four unanswered, including an empty-netter.
“I thought the first was a great road period, you get up one, obviously a couple penalties there that we didn’t need to take,” said Cougars Assistant Coach Carter Rigby on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“It fell down from there, they capitalized on their chances, we didn’t. We had four powerplays that didn’t do much of anything. Had looks to get up on them early and get a few ahead, didn’t capitalize and we were chasing from there.”
The Cougars, who have the best powerplay in the WHL, went 0/4 with the man-advantage.
Cougars first-round draft pick Carson Carels made his WHL debut, the 15-year-old was one of the better players for the Cougars in the loss.
“The future’s bright for that kid, for sure,” Rigby said.
“He’s not getting anything through, he’s got a big long stick he uses well, he’s aggressive in the corners, he made a nice little seam pass to Heidter in the last shift to chip over. we have confidence and the group does to, and I thought for Carson he played exactly as advertised.”
Josh Ravensbergen got the start in net, and made 32 saves.
The full box score can be found here.
The Cougars (22-9-0-0) are at the top of the WHL’s Western Conference standings, one point ahead of the Wenatchee Wild. (20-9-3-0)
The full WHL standings can be found here.
The Cougars will play Wenatchee Friday night. (7:00)
The full Cougars schedule can be found here.