The Prince George Cougars are in.
The Cougars clinched a playoff berth in convincing fashion, with a 5-1 win over the Spokane Chiefs.
Josh Ravensbergen was excellent as usual, making 28 stops on the night.
“Especially in the second period, even in the third, how many breakaway’s did he stop tonight?” said Cougars Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“Those are game changers, and kept us in it until we got our powerplays in the third, and that was the game.”
The Berger makes his presence known early! 🚫🚫🚫@SanJoseSharks pic.twitter.com/wRSUXkGfHS
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 7, 2026
“It was fun to get that one, to come back after a long roadie and put on a good show in front of our fans, they haven’t seen us in a while, so it was a fun one,” Ravensbergen said on the post game show.
For most of the game, it was a defensive tilt, before the Cougars blew the score open with a pair of powerplay goals on a five-minute major, the team’s only powerplay of the night.
“They got the chemistry, and they got a few plays that they can really go to, and at certain times when they feel the penalty kill get out of position a little bit, those plays, they just naturally do them now, it’s really nice to watch,” Lamb said.
Coming off an eight-game road trip, Aiden Foster welcomed the 4,326 fans at the CN Centre back to the arena early, potting a rebound after an excellent forecheck from Brock Souch 4:15 into the game.
Souch wins the race, Foster finds the net!@TBLightning | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/mN5UWdMZW2 pic.twitter.com/ECiKv65Pi2
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 7, 2026
Late in the first, Dawson Seitz found the back of the net with 1:07 to go in the opening period.
Dawson Seitz extends the lead late in the first!@CarlsJrCA pic.twitter.com/IgNXHwM7PA
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 7, 2026
The second period was less than ideal for the Cougars. Spokane piled 14 shots onto Ravensbergen, while only allowing the Cougars to get two shots on Carter Esler in the period.
The Chiefs were able to find the back of the net on the powerplay in the second, as Owen Martin put a loose puck past Ravensbergen 3:01 into the middle frame.
Marty at the doorstep 🚨
Owen Martin picks up his 22nd goal of the year on the power play with help from Dominik Petr and Logan Wormald to make it 2-1!#GoChiefsGo | @NHLJets pic.twitter.com/UGrJQQyBlJ
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) March 7, 2026
Kooper Gizowski restored the Cougars two-goal lead in the third period, tipping home a Tyrone Sobry shot 2:00 into the period.
A ONE HANDED TIP from Gizwoski puts us up by two!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/IMQZdyo0za pic.twitter.com/eMteMOkGK8
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 7, 2026
42 seconds later, Chiefs forward Assanali Sarkenov was assessed a five-minute major for a check to the head, as well as a game misconduct, allowing one of the league’s best powerplays to go to work.
Brock Souch found a yawning cage, with Esler trying to prevent Dmitri Yakutsenak from finding another Cougar out front.
BEER CANS DOWN, COUGS UP! Brock Souch extends the lead!@CarlsJrCA | #NHLDraft https://t.co/HtZMYa27Vb pic.twitter.com/w4Url9MDIF
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 7, 2026
On the same powerplay, Terik Parascak scored his 100th WHL goal, finishing off a perfect passing play.
TERIK PARASCAK’S 100TH CAREER GOAL WAS A POWERPLAY MASTERPIECE@Capitals | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/7SnDxXigc2 pic.twitter.com/6i4XyebF6z
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 7, 2026
The box score is here.
This weekend’s double header between the Cougars and the Chiefs is potentially a preview for the first round of the WHL playoffs.
With the win, the Cougars (37-22-2-0) are sitting third, and are currently tied with the fourth-place Kelowna Rockets (34-19-6-2) at 76 points.
With an 8-2 win over the Victoria Royals (26-26-5-3) Friday night, the Kamloops Blazers (27-22-7-5) leapfrogged the Chiefs (32-28-1-0) in the WHL’s Western Conference, putting Kamloops fifth and Spokane sixth.
The WHL standings are here.
The Cougars and Chiefs will play again Saturday night at the CN Centre.
The full Cougars schedule is here.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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