Sports by Hartley Miller as of 12:05 a.m. Monday, April 18th
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars are in the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The Cougars play the (47-16-3-2) Winterhawks in round one starting with games Friday and Saturday in Portland.
The best-of-7 first-round series will shift back to P.G. on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 26th and 27th.
Portland finished third in the Western Conference, one point out of first and 46 points ahead of Prince George.
The (24-39-4-1) Cougars ended up 6th, beating out Spokane and Vancouver on a tie-breaker after all three teams finished with 53 points, one more than 9th place Victoria.
The tie-breaking procedure is right here.
Playoff Schedule vs. Portland
Friday, April 22nd at Portland (Game 1)- 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 23rd at Portland (Game 2)- 6:00 pm
Tuesday, April 26th vs. Portland (Game 3)- 7:00 pm
Wednesday, April 27th vs. Portland (Game 4)- 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 30th at Portland (Game 5)- 5:00 pm*
Monday, May 2nd vs. Portland (Game 6)- 7:00 pm*
Wednesday, May 4th at Portland (Game 7) 7:00pm*
* If Required
Single game 2022 WHL Playoff tickets are now on sale at www.ticketsnorth.ca and start at just $16 for all Cougars’ home games in the First Round of the WHL Playoffs.
Kelowna Rockets 3 Prince George Cougars 1 (Saturday)
The box score and highlights are right here.
Details on the game and tie-breaker are right here.
The Rockets scored the first two goals just 19 seconds apart midway thru the second period before 4,518 fans in Kelowna.
Prince George Cougars 4 Kamloops Blazers 2 (Friday)
Ty Young made 43 saves and Captain Jonny Hooker snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:57 of the third period.
The box score and game highlights are right here.
The WHL standings are right here.
The regular-season schedule and results for the PG Cougars are right here.
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller chats with @PGCougars associate coach Josh Dixon in this week”s episode
| https://t.co/K98kkOROWr #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #NorthernUprising #sports pic.twitter.com/08xgxWEPrn— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) April 13, 2022
Column:
Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering if spring finally has arrived (sorry, Brandon and area) . . . https://t.co/cjRy2fWguR
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) April 18, 2022
BCHL:
The scene has shifted to Prince George for the Spruce Kings and the Penticton Vees.
Games 3 and 4 will be played tonight and Tuesday at the RMCA.
The Vees lead the best-of-7 Interior Division semifinal series 2-0.
Penticton won the first two games on home ice by scores of 2-1 (Thursday) and 6-2 (Saturday).
Penticton Vees 6 Prince George Spruce Kings 2 (Saturday)
The Vees scored three goals on the power-play and another shorthanded before 3,339 fans in Penticton.
The game stats are right here.
The Spruce Kings got early second period goals from Rowan Miller and Luc Laylin, but the Penticton Vees rattled off five unanswered goals to take Game 2 by a 6-2 score.
📸Cherie Morgan
📝https://t.co/Apw4yLnAWu#BCHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/3bIFbQJe3x
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) April 17, 2022
Penticton Vees 2 PG Spruce Kings 1 (Thursday)
The Vees won the opener as Josh Nadeau snapped a 1-1 tie with just 4.9 seconds left in the third period before 3,002 fans in Penticton.
The game stats are right here.
The Spruce Kings’ schedule against the Vees is as follows: PG home games in bold
Game 1 – Thursday, April 14th – Prince George @ Penticton – Penticton won 2-1
Game 2 – Saturday, April 16th – Prince George @ Penticton – Penticton won 6-2
Game 3 – Monday, April 18th – Penticton @ Prince George – 7 PM
Game 4 – Tuesday, April 19th – Penticton @ Prince George – 7 PM
Game 5 – Thursday, April 21st – Prince George @ Penticton – 7 PM (If Necessary)
Game 6 – Saturday, April 23rd – Penticton @ Prince George – 7 PM (If Necessary)
Game 7 – Monday, April 25th – Prince George @ Penticton – 7 PM (If Necessary)
The Spruce Kings playoff schedule and results are right here.
The BCHL final regular-season standings are right here.
NHL: (6 Sunday games with one Canadian team in action)
Toronto 4 NY Islanders 2
The highest-scoring weekend in NHL history concluded with 153 goals (102 Saturday, 51 Sunday) and boosted the goals-per-game rate to 6.3 on the season. It’s been 26 years since a season ended with a scoring rate that high (6.3 G/GP in 1995-96).#NHLStats: https://t.co/Nx7m9gNV5o pic.twitter.com/4zz9ELx0yX
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 18, 2022
The (37-28-10) Vancouver Canucks host the (43-27-5) Dallas Stars tonight at 7:30 and the lowly Ottawa Senators Tuesday night at 7:00.
The Canucks, who have won five straight, are 6 points out of a playoff spot (behind third place LA in the Pacific Division) with 7 games remaining (4 at home).
Vancouver is also 7 points out of a wild-card spot.
The Canucks are 29-12-7 since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach.
MLB:
Toronto Blue Jays 4 Oakland A’s 3
The Jays are 6-4 after 10 games.
Toronto will start a 6-game road trip Tuesday night in Boston.
The Blue Jays schedule is right here.
The MLB standings are right here.
NBA: (Playoffs)
The Toronto Raptors visit the Philadelphia 76’ers tonight (4:30 PT) in game two of their best-of-7 first-round playoff series.
The 76’ers won the opener on Saturday 131-111.
The NBA playoff results are right here.
The Raptors playoff schedule against Philadelphia is right here.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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