WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Earn Big Win over Giants

Published on March 28, 2022 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


Prince George Cougars goaltender Ty Young vs. the Vancouver Giants
Prince George Cougars goaltender Ty Young vs. the Vancouver Giants
(Prince George Cougars, Credit: Rob Wilton)

LANGLEY, BC- The Prince George Cougars (22-35-2-1) have strung together back-to-back wins after a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants (23-33-4-0) at the Langley Events Centre on Sunday.

The win was the Cougars' second in less than 24 hours, as they were coming off a 3-0 win Saturday in Victoria. Sunday's result moves Prince George four points clear of the Spokane Chiefs for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Sunday's win was highlighted by a three-goal third period, as the Cougars grabbed their first come from behind win. Heading into Sunday, the Cougars were 0-31-2-1 when trailing after two periods.

Koehn Ziemmer, Ethan Samson and Caden Brown all scored in the third period comeback. Hudson Thornton opened the scoring in the first period, and Connor Bowie found the back of the net in the middle frame.

Goaltender Ty Young picked up his fourth win, as the 17-year-old stopped 30 of 34 shots fired his way. Young was sharp early, as he stopped 10 of 11 shots in the first period, which included stopping Justin Lies on a breakaway.

Payton Mount recorded a hat-trick for Vancouver in the loss. Ty Thorpe scored the other Giants' goal. Connor Martin started in net but was pulled in the second after surrendering three goals on 20 shots. Will Gurski came in and coughed up two goals on eight shots.

It was an up and down afternoon in the special team department. The Cougars went 1-3 on the power play but also gave up a shorthanded goal. The penalty kill was 2-2.

Both teams were playing their third game in two and a half days and fatigue led to back-and-forth action, as the game was highlighted by four lead changes.

Thornton opened the scoring nine minutes into the first period, as he scored his 14th to put the Cougars up 1-0.

Bowie put the Cougars ahead 2-1 midway through the second. The 20-year-old beat Martin on the stick side from the left wing at 11:48, as he picked up his 12th goal.

Vancouver then scored twice in just under five minutes to go up 3-2 after 40 minutes. Mount tied it 2-2 at 13:20 when he buried a rebound from inside the crease. Then, he scored shorthanded at 18:12 to put the Giants up 3-2 after two periods.

Ziemmer started the comeback bid early in the third period, as he cashed in on his own rebound as scored his 29th goal at 4:13. Samson then put Prince George up 4-3 after he hammered a one-timer during a five-on-three power play at 9:20. His 14th goal of the season. Brown finished off the flurry of goals when he showed off some soft hands on a breakaway, tucking his backhand through the goalie's pads at 13:49 to make it 5-3.

Vancouver tried to weather their own comeback bid late, as Mount scored his third at 18:22 to make it 5-4, but that's as close as the Giants would get on Sunday.

GAME NOTES

Caden Brown's goal was his first goal since February 12th when he also scored against Vancouver. Carter MacAdams had two assists in the win and had eight points in 12 games against Vancouver. Hudson Thornton finished with two points and is second in Rookie scoring among defencemen the WHL with 44 points. Sunday was just the Giants' second loss when leading after two periods. They were 16-1-0-0 prior to today's loss.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring

Giants: Mount (3), Thorpe

Cougars: Thornton, Bowie, Ziemmer, Samson, Brown

Goaltending

Giants: Connor Martin (L), 13:23, six saves, eight shots

Cougars: Ty Young (W), 60:00, 30 saves, 34 shots

Power-Play

Giants: 0/2

Cougars: 1/3

Shots

Giants: 34

Cougars: 28

Three Stars: 1) Payton Mount 2) Ethan Samson 3) Hudson Thornton

Next Game: Wednesday, March 30th at Kamloops Blazers, 7:00 pm

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Images from this story

Prince George Cougars goaltender Ty Young vs. the Vancouver Giants
Prince George Cougars goaltender Ty Young vs. the Vancouver Giants
(Rob Wilton)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2022


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