The opening round of the WHL playoffs is headed to Portland as the Prince George Cougars dropped game two 5-2 Saturday night.
“I think it came right down to special teams, they win the special teams battle and they win the game,” said Cougars Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
The Winterhawks went 2-for-3 on their powerplay opportunities, while the Cougars didn’t capitalize once on their three tries.
“We’ve had a couple of chances but you need to score goals, we didn’t score any goals and they scored a couple on their powerplay, there’s a difference.”
The Cougars struggled to get any offence going.
“They played a very smart third period, obviously they’re really aware of what happened [Friday] night, and they did a good job of keeping everything to the outside,” Lamb said.
“We need more, we need more from our top guys, you look at their team and it was all their big guys that did the damage tonight and we just need more.”
While Saturday’s game didn’t have the same result, it was a better effort over the full 60 minutes for the Cougars than Friday.
“Playoffs are playoffs, you have to work for every win that you get, and we didn’t do it tonight,” Lamb said.
“We played alright, we played better than parts last night, but you just need more from everybody.”
Diego Buttazoni lit the lamp first for Portland with Kayden Lemire in the box on a tripping call.
Diego responds 🗣️#WHLPlayoffs ︳#FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/QVXUUwAN74
— x – Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) March 30, 2025
Evan Groening responded by potting a rebound past Ondrej Štěbeták, bringing the 6,016 at the CN Centre to life.
Evan Groening’s first career playoff goal ties this one up!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/mgLVNL9lYb pic.twitter.com/uyokHQ79iu
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 30, 2025
Late in the first, Jorgan Duguay perfectly placed his wrist shot to give the Winterhawks the lead heading into the break.
First playoff goal for Duguay 😎#WHLPlayoffs ︳#FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/iTxBA8ublA
— x – Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) March 30, 2025
Portland kept that momentum going with Kyle Chyzowski potting Portland’s second powerplay goal and the eventual game winner.
Say, Chyz 😁#WHLPlayoffs ︳#FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/JL3hMiNdE0
— x – Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) March 30, 2025
Viliam Kmec brought the Cougars back to within one sneaking a point blast past Štěbeták.
Kmec has his first of the playoffs!@GoldenKnights | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/kaxxUaScU6 pic.twitter.com/xsa7QEmZZi
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 30, 2025
Buttazoni dazzled on the insurance marker, dancing past Kmec and putting a backhand behind Josh Ravensbergen.
Silky Smooth 😳#WHLPlayoffs ︳#FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/2UCR3vi0Z2
— x – Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) March 30, 2025
Tyson Jugnauth sealed the win with an empty net marker.
Josh Ravensbergen made 28 saves on the 32 shots he faced.
The box score is here.
The series shifts to Portland for games three through five with the 2-3-2 format that is required for the longer road trips in the WHL.
Game three is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:00.
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