The Prince George Cougars are headed to Spokane with a 2-0 series lead thanks to a 7-4 win over the Chiefs last night.
Keaton Dowhaniuk got the 5,678 fans at the CN Centre into the game, opening the scoring 9:31 into the first.
Dow had one goal in 66 games in the regular season.
He has two in two games of the playoffs! https://t.co/Xfm2DlmIpB pic.twitter.com/gLUzIFyUOn
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2024
Five different Cougars put goals on the board in the second, including three goals in a stretch of 1:13, before chaos ensued in the final frame.
Oren Shtrom got the second period scoring party started 2:22 into the second on a 2-on-0 with Matteo Danis.
Not quite how most 2-on-0’s go.
Not complaining though. https://t.co/BtsKBYLu9I pic.twitter.com/h0eaz0kAwk
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2024
8:35 into the second, Ondrej Becher blasted a one-timer on the powerplay so fast, the refs didn’t see it go in.
Becher blasts hit even harder in the playoffs 🥵 https://t.co/UXp1QehpYW pic.twitter.com/ab2iBKJx3m
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2024
Aiden Foster buried his first WHL playoff goal 14:24 into the period.
Welcome to the playoffs, Aiden! https://t.co/FgHINnwjBp pic.twitter.com/YIXDl14tuX
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2024
61 seconds later, Carlin Dezainde potted his first WHL playoff goal as well.
Carlin Dezainde has his first of the postseason, and Ziemmer has his first point since returning from injury! https://t.co/9ErP72JeeQ pic.twitter.com/mgEF9CORJV
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2024
The Cougars weren’t done there, as Viliam Kmec extended the lead to 6-0 twelve seconds later.
Kmec makes it 3 PG goals in 1:13 😳 https://t.co/M3kBD9pa2z pic.twitter.com/wYNP3VICoq
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2024
Four Spokane goals brought the Chiefs back within two in the third.
“I didn’t like a lot of our game at all, even the first 40 minutes,” said Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb on the post game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“I thought we were lucky to be up in the game, we didn’t move our feet, and then we got selfish, and just took stupid penalties and yapped at the ref, that’s a way to lose hockey games.”
The Cougars racked up 12 penalty minutes in the game, ten of which came in the third period, plus a ten-minute misconduct given to Zac Funk.
“You got to play the right way, and we didn’t,” Lamb said.
The Cougars gave the puck away several times in their own end, leading to Spokane shots.
Spokane outshot Prince George 30-28.
Terik Parascak put the game on ice with an empty net goal.
Josh Ravensbergen got the start in net for the Cougars, making 26 saves.
The full box score can be found here.
Game three will be played Tuesday night in Spokane.
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