Michelangelo is a party dude, and so was Cooper Michaluk last night.
Michaluk was the hero in a half-shell on Nickelodeon Night as the Prince George Cougars shutout the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0.
Michaluk made 24 saves to earn the first shutout of his WHL career, sending the 5,042 fans at the CN Centre home pleased.
“Nothing beats this feeling for sure, and even that, it’s an additional feeling getting the shutout, but we got the win, got the two points, that’s all I really care about at the end of the day, but it’s an unreal feeling for me for sure,” Michaluk said on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“The guys were saying on the bench, let’s tighten it up to try to keep that shutout for him, and all he says to me is “thanks for the start,” that’s the kind of kid he is,” said Cougars Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb on the post-game show.
“He’s a team player, and it’s all about the team he practices like that, he plays like that, around the guys, he’s like that, he’s just a special person.”
Prince George was the better team, mustering many good chances on their 42 shots.
“I thought it was a pretty complete game, I thought in the second period, we were taking some things for granted, like we were going to win without playing the system and doing things that make us successful, so the second period was a little bit of a soft period for us I thought, in the third period we were strong,” Lamb said.
“The one area, you get a five-on-three like that, you got to bury the team.”
The Cougars had a lengthy five-on-three opportunity just past the midway point of the third, but were unable to connect.
Overall the Cats went 0-for-4 on the powerplay on the night.
“It’s no big deal, you look at our powerplay at the start, we had some great looks, I loved our powerplay in the first period, and it didn’t go in, I just didn’t like our 5-on-3,” Lamb said.
The first period saw plenty of sandpaper, with three fights during the first frame.
Lee Shurgot opened the scoring with what turned out to be the eventual winner, with his shot deflecting into the back of the Thunderbirds’ net.
Lee(onardo) has his 6th of the season!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/VWhoV4pQ2W pic.twitter.com/uqRLGyCJEV
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 5, 2025
Borya Valis extended the lead 4:56 into the third, potting a Terik Parascak rebound into a wide open cage,
The top line doubles our lead!@Capitals | @mnwild | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/d5zMJ5yaLT pic.twitter.com/LWLLPLsb6F
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 5, 2025
Riley Heidt added an empty netter to close out the game.
Scott Ratzlaff held the Thunderbirds in the game, making 39 saves on the 41 shots he faced.
The box score is here.
The Cougars (22-10-3-2) are on top of the WHL’s BC Division and are second in the Western Conference.
The WHL standings are here.
The Cougars are back in action Tuesday at the CN Centre, hosting the Vancouver Giants.
The full Cougars schedule is here.
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