(As of 12:01 AM)
CONNOLLY LEADS CAPS:
Former Prince George Cougar and Cariboo Cougar Brett Connolly had arguably his best-ever NHL regular season game.
The 26-year-old Connolly scored twice and added an assist to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Connolly was the game’s First Star after he finished with a +3 rating, four shots on goal in 14:02 of ice time.
He has a career-high 19 goals and 39 points in 71 games this season with the Caps.
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars conclude their season with a home-and-home against the Blazers; tonight in Kamloops and Saturday at CN Centre (on Fan Appreciation Night).
The Blazers have won six of the seven meetings against the Cougars this season.
Kamloops is just one point behind the Kelowna Rockets for 3rd place in the B.C. Division and a playoff spot.
The Rockets close with a home-and-home against the first place Vancouver Giants; tonight in Langley and Saturday in Kelowna.
The 18-40-5-3 Cougars have just two victories in their last 25 games, one against Kamloops and the other vs. Portland.
Prince George is 2-10-1-1 since general manager Mark Lamb took over as interim head coach.
The Cougars will finish 19th out of 22 teams in the overall WHL standings, ahead of Regina, Kootenay and Swift Current.
The standings are right here.
LISTEN: @Hartley_Miller‘s Cat Scan – March 14th, 2019.. featuring former @PGCougars @NHLFlames @NYRangers and @NHLFlyers forward Blair Betts | #cityofpg #sports https://t.co/Kph4pxetfL pic.twitter.com/fOrUQ7yRis
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 14, 2019
(All of the PG Cougars Cat Scan Podcasts can be found right here)
BCHL:
The Prince George Spruce Kings visit the Chilliwack Chiefs tonight and Saturday in the first two games of the Mainland Division final.
The best-of-seven series will shift to Prince George Monday and Tuesday.
The Spruce Kings won five of the eight regular-season meetings between the two teams, including all four in Prince George.
Two of the three Chilliwack wins came in a shootout and all three were by one goal.
The Spruce Kings have won 11 straight on home ice and 16 of their last 18 games overall.
The other BCHL second-round matchups will also begin tonight: Powell River at Victoria, Trail at Vernon and Cowichan Valley at Wenatchee.
Prince George-Chilliwack Schedule: (Spruce Kings home games in bold)
Game 1 – Friday, March 15th – Prince George @ Chilliwack – 7 PM
Game 2 – Saturday, March 16th – Prince George @ Chilliwack – 7 PM
Game 3 – Monday, March 18th – Chilliwack @ Prince George – 7 PM
Game 4 – Tuesday, March 19th – Chilliwack @ Prince George – 7 PM
Game 5 – Thursday, March 21st – Prince George @ Chilliwack – 7 PM (If Necessary)
Game 6 – Saturday, March 23rd – Chilliwack @ Prince George – 7 PM (If Necessary)
Game 7 – Monday, March 25th – Prince George @ Chilliwack – 7 PM (If Necessary)
Coquitlam-Prince George results: (Spruce Kings home games in bold)
Game 1 – Friday, March 1st – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 3-1
Game 2 – Saturday, March 2nd – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 3-2 (OT)
Game 3 – Monday, March 4th – Prince George @ Coquitlam – SK WON 5-2
Game 4 – Tuesday, March 5th – Prince George @ Coquitlam – EXPRESS WON 3-0
Game 5 – Thursday, March 7th – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 4-2
The Cariboo Cougars host the 7th place (18-16-4-2) Greater Vancouver Canadians in the best-of-three BCMML quarterfinals.
Games will be played at Kin 1 tonight at 5:30, Saturday afternoon at 4:00 and if needed, Sunday morning at 10:00.
The 27-8-5 Cougars finished in second place and are riding a six-game win streak.
The league schedule and standings are right here.
#
NHL: (10 Thursday games)
PIT 5 – BUF 0
NYI 2 – MTL 1
WSH 5 – PHI 2
OTT 2 – STL 0
TBL 5 – DET 4
DAL 4 – MIN 1
WPG 4 – BOS 3
ARI 6 – ANA 1
NSH 3 – LAK 1
FLA 4 – SJS 2Via @Discover: https://t.co/CxVFdmRctz pic.twitter.com/wD36SYrPR7
— NHL (@NHL) March 15, 2019
The Vancouver Canucks host the (26-36-9) New Jersey Devils tonight.
The 29-32-9 Canucks are 13th in the Western Conference, 10 points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the final wild-card playoff spot with just 12 games remaining (8 home and 4 away).
The Devils are 15th in the Eastern Conference, a whopping 20 points out of a playoff berth.
CURLING:
The Chelsea Carey team of Alberta represents Canada at the women’s world curling championship that starts this weekend and runs until March 24th in Silkeborg, Denmark.
Rachel Brown is the lead on the Canadian team.
The 32-year-old Brown was born in Smithers and moved to Edmonton in 2006.
Canada will open against South Korea Saturday in the 13-team tournament.
The draw is right here.
The 2020 women’s world curling championship will be held in Prince George.
SKI:
The Prince George Ski Club hosts the TECK U14 Provincials today, Saturday and Sunday at Purden Ski Village.
Over 170 downhill skiers will compete in the largest gathering of racers this season under the provincial BC Alpine umbrella.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 111 LA Lakers 98
HALL OF FAME:
Tickets are on sale for the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame 12th Annual Induction Dinner on Saturday, March 30th at the Hart Community Centre.
There are three new inductees – Cliff Hucul, Brian Martinson, and Elisha Williams to bring the PG Sports Hall of Fame total to 78.
In addition, 12 Prince George Youth will receive Excellence awards.
They are Jonah Brittons, Ben Hendrickson, Kimoko Kamstra, Natasha Kozlowski, Anna MacDonald, Eric Orlowsky, Colburn Pearce, Derian Potskin, Ainslee Rushton, Matthew Shand, Zenze Stanley-Jones, Jordan Vertue.
Tickets at $45.00 each are available until March 22nd at Northern Food Equipment, 814 – 5th Avenue.