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WHL Prince George Cougars

Struggles Continue with Loss to Victoria

March 12, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


Prince George Cougars test the Victoria Royals goaltender
Prince George Cougars test the Victoria Royals goaltender
(Prince George Cougars, Credit: James Doyle)

PRINCE GEORGE, BC- The Prince George Cougars (19-32-2-1) are winless in seven games after Friday's 5-3 setback to the Victoria Royals (17-33-5-1) at the CN Centre.

Prince George squandered a 2-0 first period lead, as the Royals at one point rattled off four-straight goals to build a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes. The Cougars made it a one-goal game early in the third period, but Victoria hung up and sealed the win with an empty-net goal late.

Ethan Samson and Keaton Dowhaniuk scored in the first period to put the Cougars ahead 2-0 in the first seven minutes. Dowhaniuk scoring his first this season. Koehn Ziemmer scored in the third period to make it a 4-3 game but that's as close as Prince George would get on Friday.

Tyler Brennan suffered the loss in net, as he stopped 22 of 26 shots. Victoria's Tyler Palmer was the winning goaltender, as he made 22 saves in the Royals' crease.

Special teams, specifically the penalty kill, was a factor into the loss. The Royals scored twice on the power play, including the game-winning goal in the second period by Riley Gannon. The Cougars were 1-2 on the man-advantage and have now scored a power play goal in six-straight games.

"I liked our start. I liked how we set the tone, set the pace, but we started to turn pucks over and got into penalty trouble and that gave them life. You can't win hockey games when you beat yourself," said Associate Coach Josh Dixon.

General Manager & Head Coach Mark Lamb missed Friday's game due to an illness. The Cougars have now their last 10 home games dating back to January 21st. With Victoria's win, they move within one point of Prince George and eighth place in the Western Conference standings.

GAME NOTES

Friday was the Cougars' first loss to the Royals this season. Prince George was 7-0-0-0 in the previous seven encounters. Ethan Samson and Hudson Thornton each extended their point streaks to six games. Samson scored in the first and Thornton assisted on that goal. Riley Heidt had a pair of assists in the loss. He has points in six of his last seven games.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring

Royals: Matthew Hodson, Caleb Wilms, Riley Gannon, Anthony Wilson, Tarun Fizer

Cougars: Ethan Samson, Keaton Dowhaniuk, Koehn Ziemmer

Goaltending

Royals: Tyler Palmer (W), 60:00, 22 saves, 25 shots

Cougars: Tyler Brennan (L), 59:10, 22 saves, 26 shots

Power-Play

Royals: 2/7

Cougars: 1/2

Shots

Royals: 27

Cougars: 25

Attendance: 1,841

Next Game: Saturday, March 12th, versus Victoria Royals, 7:00 pm

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics




Images from this story

Prince George Cougars test the Victoria Royals goaltender
Prince George Cougars test the Victoria Royals goaltender
(James Doyle)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2022


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