The Prince George Cougars looked as if they didn’t miss a beat after a lengthy 13 day break, picking up a 2-1 Friday victory over the Chiefs in front of 4,469 fans in Spokane.
The game summary is here.
“Ultimately, the game was impressive,” said Assistant Coach Carter Rigby in the post-game show on 94.3 The Goat. “After having 13 days off of games, to come into a tough barn, and win a one goal game. Since Day 1 of Camp, the message has been the same and the guys have been able to grasp it and translate it. Just the working class group that we have this year is nice to see.”
Both teams began testing each others discipline after Cougars forward Aiden Foster and Chiefs forward Coco Armstrong took matching roughing calls 2:37 into the game.
Cougars goaltender Josh Ravensbergen and Chiefs goalie Carter Esler seemed unfazed by the chippy start to the game, keeping their opponents scoreless though 20 minutes.
The Cougars managed to control the period, outshooting the Chiefs 14-6.
Starting the second period, the Cougars continued their first period momentum, keeping the Chiefs on their heels.
That would only last until 12:37 into the second, where Chiefs forward Sam Oremba opened the game’s scoring, giving his team some life.
It didn’t take long for the Cougars to find an answer, as Terik Parascak made his season debut with a clean breakaway off a pass from Captain Bauer Dumanski, tallying the team’s first goal with under two minutes remaining.
The period ended with a shot differential of 27-18 in favour of the Cougars.
Both teams went into the third with a bit more confidence after finding the back of the net in the previous period.
While it seemed to be a bit more back and forth, a costly penalty from Spokane allowed Cougars forward Kooper Gizowski to give his former team a late parting gift in the form of a powerplay goal.
That seemed to open the floodgates to Spokane’s frustrations, as they took three more penalties that period.
Ravensbergen, a first-round pick this year of the San Jose Sharks, made his season debut, stopping 26 of 27 shots to earn first star, with Esler, the game’s second star, stopped 35 of 37.
“Josh (Ravensbergen) is a first-rounder for a reason,” added Rigby. “We are obviously very confident in him. He’s our guy and he makes everyone around him better.”
The Cougars now find themselves with a record of 3-0, and it is their best start since the 2016-17 season.
Both teams will face each other again at Spokane Veterans Arena tonight (Saturday), with puck drop at 6:05.
The full Cougars schedule is here.
The WHL standings are here.
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