That’s starting the season with a bang.
The Prince George Cougars opened their season with a 6-1 win over the Portland Winterhawks in front of 4,252 fans at the CN Centre.
“I really liked our first period, I thought we came out really strong,” said Cougars Head Coach and General Manager Mark Lamb on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“In the second period we started turning some pucks over, I thought we were kind of playing the score a bit, then in the third period we locked it down pretty good.”
The Cougars came out flying in the first, scoring three times and holding the Winterhawks to just six shots in the period.
After a second period that saw little action, the Cougars closed out the game with three more goals in the third.
The Cougars were missing Terik Parascak, Aiden Foster, Corbin Vaughan and Josh Ravensbergen who are all still at NHL camps, giving a lot of the new faces around the team an opportunity to shine.
“There’s a lot of good things that happened tonight, there was a lot of nerves at the start, especially for our goalie, he was very nervous, and he played great,” Lamb said.
“Everybody has to play their first game at some point, and I thought the guys that it was their first game, they did a really good job.”
Alexander Levshyn, an import goalie from Ukraine, looked good in his first start between the pipes for the Cats, making 19 saves on 20 shots.
The lone goal to get by Levshyn came off a perfect shot from the stick of Portland veteran Ryan Miller in the first period.
GIVE MILLER THE PUCK 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/TwMgYJH1QS
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) September 20, 2025
“He’s a real good goalie, and he’s a real competitive person, I really liked what I saw tonight,” Lamb said.
Brock Souch shined as well for the Cougars in his first WHL game, scoring the first goal of the Cougars’ season 1:17 into the game.
Welcome home, Brock 😼@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/GOhmDGJT0Z pic.twitter.com/Ar9xwK5TXN
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) September 20, 2025
Souch also made a highlight reel assist in the opening stanza, dancing around the Portland defenders to set up Kayden Lemire for the Cougars’ second on the night.
Souch sets the table, Lemire feasts!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/Z3FTSpOR7v pic.twitter.com/n8L5QWkCYF
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) September 20, 2025
Kooper Gizowski, another new face for the Cougars, capped of the first period with his first of the season.
Welcome to Prince George, Koop!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/TTgVZkaK3K pic.twitter.com/A2J1JMSYPG
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) September 20, 2025
Riley Ashe scored his first in the WHL game to give the Cougars a 4-1 lead in the final frame.
Riley Ashe’s first career goal could not have come at a better time!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/W6YkSe5iUO pic.twitter.com/b8ZHZFheMK
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) September 20, 2025
Jett Lajoie added a pair of goals late as well.
New year, same Jett!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/xN2iHHAuJQ pic.twitter.com/ECmsAvT6wM
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) September 20, 2025
The Cougars will host the Winterhawks at the CN Centre again Saturday night.
The full Cougars schedule is here.
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