There wasn’t a whole lot of cheering from the 3573 fans at accesso ShoWare Centre, as the visiting Prince George Cougars blanked the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0.
The game summary is here.
The Cougars victory was led by goalie Josh Ravensbergen with a 36 save shutout and sniper Kooper Gizowski with his first WHL hat trick.
It was Ravenbergen’s first regular season shutout since Dec. 9th, 2023.
“I think Josh [Ravensbergen] earned his first star award in the first period when we gave up four or five grade A scoring chances.” said Associate Coach Jim Playfair in the post-game show on 94.3 The Goat. “He helped us in there, gives a chance to get our footing in the game, and I think that’s something that we talked about was our starts and our finishes.”
Gizowski was the first player to put the Cougars on the board 14:43 into the first, extending his point streak to all eight games this season (8 goals and 5 assists).
Shots favoured the Cougars 12-10.
It didn’t take long for things to get going in the second period, as Gizkowski found the back of the net for the second time 1:09 in, thanks to a power play.
Brock Souch managed to extend the lead by three with two seconds remaining, as the puck trickled past Thunderbirds goaltender Grayson Malinoski.
The Cougars had 18 shots that period, over the Thunderbirds 14.
Just past the midway point of the third period at 10:34, Gizkowski took advantage of a struggling Thunderbirds team, scoring his third of the game, earning the third star of the game and extending his team’s lead by four.
“I think he’s [Gizowski] really proven to us that he’s a good teammate, he’s a good person, and he’s a hired gun.” said Playfair. “He’s hired to score and that’s his job, that’s what he wants to do, that’s what we need him to do, and I think that he’s found a niche on the powerplay with Carson [Carels] working over there, and he’s found some big goals for us.”
Aiden Foster joined in on the action, picking up the team’s fifth and final goal 12:50 into the third.
The Cougars once again had the most shots that period with 15, over the Thunderbirds 12, bringing the total shot count to 45-36 for PG.
The Cougars now have a 6-2 record, (including 3-0 on the road) and will travel to Kennewick, Washington, to face the Tri-City Americans (2-5) tonight (Saturday) with puck drop at 6:05.
The full Cougars schedule is here.
The WHL standings are here.
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