The Prince George Cougars, who lead the BC Division, are swept by the Portland Winterhawks 4-0 in their season series. Additionally, this game is rather traditional in comparison to the previous three; there are no last-minute victories or multi-goal comebacks.
Josh Zakreski scored Portland’s final three goals, and Kayd Ruedig’s first goal of his career gave them the lead they never lost.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
| 1st 4:48 POR Kayd Ruedig (Tyson Yaremko, Tyson Jugnauth) 1-0 | A long shot by Jugnauth doesn t get all the way through, but Yaremko takes the puck from Evan Groening and gets it back to the line to Ruedig. With Prince George scrambling a bit, Ruedig makes a nice move to get past Groening and take an open shot from the right dot to beat Joshua Ravensbergen for his first WHL goal. |
| 1st 9:12 POR Josh Zakreski (Diego Buttazzoni, Kayd Ruedig) 2-0 | Zakreski with a sharp-angle goal from below the right dot, not a great one for a top goalie to give up. Buttazzoni gained the blue line and passed it to Zakreski. Ruedig made the outlet from his own zone. |
| 1st 11:55 PG Borya Valis 2-1 | Valis steals the puck along the boards from Kyle Chyzowski, giving PG a very close-in 2 on 1. Ondrej t bet k really commits to the pass, but Valis keeps it and puts it in the top corner. |
| 2nd 9:51 POR Josh Zakreski (Kayd Ruedig, Diego Buttazzoni) 3-1 | Ruedig s long shot is blocked at the low slot, but it bounces right to Zakreski on the back door for the quick finish. Buttazzoni swung the puck over to Ruedig. |
| 3rd 9:23 POR Josh Zakreski (Tyson Jugnauth, Alex Weiermair) 4-1 | Jugnauth weaves down the left wing and the passes back into the slot for a Zakreski one-timer and the hat trick. Weiermair picked up a long rebound off a previous chance by Zakreski and got it to Jugnauth. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 32:52 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 22:20 |
| Tied | 4:48 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 0:00 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: The Winterhawks were attempting to pull off an unusual season sweep of Prince George and were aiming for back-to-back victories over a division leader. The Cougars wanted to win their US week two out of two. Riley Heidt, the squad captain, will return shortly after being cut by squad Canada at the World Juniors, but not for this match. Both clubs have the top players in goal. Joel Plante, who came over from the BCHL, makes his WHL debut.
First period: In a thrilling period, the Winterhawks took a 2-1 lead. In a close sequence of play, they capitalized on their opportunities to take a 2-0 lead. After after, PG had a strong run that gave them a shooting edge and allowed them to reclaim one goal.
In the second quarter, the Cougars scored more points than the Winterhawks once more, but the Winterhawks maintained their lead. The stronger team was Portland.
Third quarter: PG never truly threatened, as Portland scored the lone goal thanks to a clever defensive third period. Two serious penalties for nasty hits by PG’s 16-year-old fourth liners were the only noteworthy things.
1. Goaltending was the key to victory. Although Ondrej T. Bet K. took the goalie’s points by a significant margin—a major upset in comparison to expectations—Joshua Ravensbergen wasn’t bad.
2. Despite allowing 40 shots, Portland’s defense played a fairly steady game. With a point per game, Viliam Kmec, Terik Parascak, and Koehn Ziemmer all failed to score.
Important stretch/moment: In the first half, with Portland ahead 1-0, Ziemmer missed a nearly open net. A little later, Josh Zakreski made it 2-0.
It should come as no surprise that neither club has a special teams advantage because they are both excellent at them.
Surprise: Portland is swinging wildly in the game, which is decided at even strength.
Controversies: In the final part of the third quarter, Prince George’s two 16-year-olds, Patrick Sopiarz and Kayden Lemire, were given serious penalties. Additionally, Jett Lajoie should have received a harsher penalty for his high crosscheck in the second. Despite their reputation as a rugged club, the Cougars have been the least disciplined team against Portland this season in all four meetings. They lost at least two of the earlier games as a result.
You would have to declare that the best team won. which may not have been true in the three prior victories in Portland.
Suspensions and injuries: Lemire and Sopiarz ought to be suspended, perhaps for multiple games. Ryan McDonough may be in concussion protocol as a result of Lemire’s high hit, and it’s uncertain if he will play on Saturday. More filthy, Sopiarz’s arrived at the last minute as everyone was trying to clock out. So, even though he didn’t seem hurt, he might receive more.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 3 goals | Second hat trick of his career and season. |
| Kayd Ruedig | POR | 1 goal, 2 assists | First WHL goal and his first multi-point game. |
| Ondrej t bet k | POR | 39 saves-40 shots | Third win of the season against the Cougars. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 2 assists | 5-game point streak, and increases his defenseman scoring lead in the league to 6 points. |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 2 assists | 5-game point streak. |
| Borya Valis | PG | 1 goal | 4-game point streak, takes over the team scoring lead with their only pint of the game. |
| Tyson Yaremko | POR | 1 assist | |
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 1 assist | A point per game through 3 games with the Winterhawks. |
| Joshua Ravensbergen | PG | 30 saves-34 shots | The 2-0 goal was not great, and that hurt given the game situation. Winterhawks did a pretty good job getting bodies around him. |
| Viliam Kmec | PG |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 4-game point streak snapped. | |
| Koehn Ziemmer | PG | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Carson Carels | PG | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Terik Parascak | PG | 3-game point streak snapped; not much impact for PG s now-2nd-leading scorer. | |
| Joel Plante | POR | Played on the 2nd line on his Portland debut. Took a couple of penalties; showed he might have a decent shot. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Cougars | |
|---|---|---|
| Record |
16-12-2 (.567) |
16-9-3-2 (.617) |
| Goals/game |
3.8 |
3.9 |
| Goals allowed/game |
3.9 |
3.4 |
| Team shooting % |
.112 |
.121 |
| Team save % |
.888 |
.892 |
| Power play | 28.1% | 24.8% |
| Penalty kill |
80.7% |
82.8% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.3 | 3.9 |
| Power plays against/game |
3.8 |
4.1 |
| Outshooting opponents | 10-19-1 |
15-14-1 |
| After 1 period |
8-12-10 |
13-5-12 |
| After 2 periods |
10-15-5 |
12-9-9 |
| Score, last 10 games |
44-38 (+6) |
33-35 (-2) |
| Score, last 20 games |
73-75 (-2) |
80-70 (+10) |
The Portland Winterhawks
They have an opportunity to start the break strong with two home games remaining.
Prior to the season, the Portland-Prince George season series might have finished 4-0, but not against the Winterhawks.
The Prince George Cougars
Riley Heidt’s dismissal from Team Canada is upsetting, but Prince George urgently needs him. They require as much leadership as possible. Even if they still lead the BC Division in games played, it feels like something is lacking. They have a lot of time to make up, and they have a decent possibility of facing the Winterhawks again in March.
Next games
Seattle on Saturday, December 14, at 6 p.m. PST
Spokane vs. Tuesday, December 17, 7 p.m. PST
Looking ahead: Tri-City vs. Friday, December 27, 7 p.m. PST
Next away game: Tri-City on Saturday, December 28, at 6 p.m. PST
Prince George’s next game: The playoffs are still possible.
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