The Portland Winterhawks dropped a 6-2 decision the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday night. Portland is now 1-3 against Prince George this season. The last time these two teams met, the Winterhawks won 6-2 on Halloween night. This game also concluded a five game home stretch for Portland, where they went 3-2 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Cougars were eager to find their first win of November. Their last win came on October 24th, when they defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3.
It was Prince George who would strike first on Wednesday night. Just 4:25 into the first period, the Cougars would look to break out of their defensive zone. Brock Souch would work the puck around the boards for Patrick Sopiarz. Sopiarz would look over his shoulder before controlling the puck, spotting his teammate streaking up the ice. After turning along the boards, Sopiarz would hit Jett Lajoie with a pass in stride. From the defensive blue line, Lajoie would turn on the jets, and split Portland’s defenders. Once Lajoie was in the offensive zone, he would deke to his right and fire a shot back towards his left. The puck would slide under the right leg of Portland goaltender Ondrej Štěbeták, and into the back of the net. Lajoie’s 11th goal of the year would give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.
The Winterhawks would respond roughly four minutes later with a goal of their own. From just beyond the defensive blue line, Kyle McDonough looked to stretch a pass across the neutral zone. However, McDonough’s pass was deflected by the stick of a retreating Cougars forward, and the puck would take a shallow bounce into the offensive zone. As the puck rolled behind Prince George’s last defenseman, Reed Brown would sprint into the zone and catch up to the loose puck. Now one on one with Cougars goaltender, Joshua Ravensbergen, Brown would deke to his right for a backhand shot. The puck would kick down off the elbow of Ravensbergen’s blocker arm, and skip into the back of the net. Brown’s seventh goal of the year would tie the game at 1-1.
Then on the first penalty of the game, Portland’s power-play would get the chance to go to work. Ryan Miller would start the play from the point with the puck. Passing to his right, Miller would find Jordan Duguay at the top of the faceoff circle. Duguay would then turn and shift down towards the faceoff dot, and threaten a shot on goal. At the last moment, Duguay would skip a pass across the zone for Alex Weiermair. Weiermair would tee up a one-timer that would beat the sliding Ravensbergen glove side, and give the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead with 3:19 left in the first period.
However, Portland’s power-play was not the only one to strike in the opening frame. With just over two seconds left in the first period, Prince George would score on the man advantage. Carson Carels would skate the puck into the zone along the left side boards. Carels then centered a pass for Dmitri Yakutsenak in the high slot. Yakutsenak caught the pass on his backhand, which meant he couldn’t take a clean shot on goal. Instead, Yakutsenak passed the puck to his right for Terik Parascak. Parascak would then send the puck on net from a wide angle. Štěbeták would make a kick save for Portland, but the rebound would bounce right to the stick of Carels. Carels quickly fired another wrist shot on net, and this time, he would beat Štěbeták blocker side. Carels fifth goal of the year would send Prince George and Portland into the second period, tied at 2-2.
While both sides put up plenty of scoring chances in the second period, it was the Cougars who would take full advantage of their opportunites. Their first goal of the period came just under four minutes into the action, as their power-play got another chance to take the ice. As the Cougars dumped the puck down low in the offensive zone, Brock Souch would be along the endboards, ready to recieve the puck. Once Souch had control of the puck, he would throw a backhand pass towards the near faceoff circle. At the bottom of that circle was Terik Parascak, who quickly shifted the puck across the slot to Dmitri Yakutsenak. Yakutsenak’s initial backhand shot was saved by Štěbeták, and the puck would fall to Štěbeták’s right, kicking off Yakutsenak’s skate to fall below goal line extended. However, Štěbeták’s momentum took him well past the top of the goal crease. This meant that Yakutsenak had plenty of time to gather up the rebound, and tuck the loose puck back inside the near post. Prince George’s second power-play goal of the night would give them a 3-2 lead.
As the halfway point of the game approached, the Cougars would find their second goal of the period. A backhand pass by Carter Sotheran would be intercepted at center ice by Kooper Gizowski. Gizowski then skated into the offensive zone and ripped a low wrist shot on net. The puck would ping off the far post behind Štěbeták, but the rebound would bounce right back out to the slot. Before Štěbeták could recover, Kayden Lemire pounced on the rebound, and fired a shot into the net. Lemire’s goal would extend the Cougars lead to 4-2.
Unfortunately for Portland, just 37 seconds later, Prince George would score again. This time, Ethan Hamilton would recieve a pass at the defensive zone blue line. Looking to break out, Hamilton would then lead a pass for Riley Ashe through the neutral zone. Now with speed, Ashe entered the offensive zone with a teammate waiting on the far side of the ice. However, after crossing the blue line, Ashe would wind up and release a wrist shot. The puck would beat Štěbeták high blocker side, and the Cougars would take a 5-2 lead in the second period.
After Ashe’s goal, the Winterhawks looked to break the Cougars momentum by substituting goaltenders. Rookie Cruz Chase would play the remainder of the game, and was a solid eight for eight on shots saved. On the other side though, Joshua Ravensbergen was on point. Despite the heavy shot differential in the third period, Ravensbergen would end the night saving 37 of 39 shots. The only goal of the third period came from Terik Parascak, on an empty net with over three minutes remaining. The final score from Veterans Memorial Coliseum, was Prince George 6, Portland 2.
The Winterhawks start their first full weekend of November on the road. They take on the Wenatchee Wild on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 