Vees Sweep Two Game Set with Cougars
Published on January 8, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Penticton Vees News Release
Penticton Vees huddle
(Penticton Vees, Credit: Prince George Cougars)
Prince George, BC - Diego Johnson scored with less than a minute left giving the Vees a 3-2 win over the Cougars in Prince George on Wednesday night.
The Vees climb to 22-9-4-3 on the season with the win, their seventh in a row, and now sit three points ahead of the Cougars for top spot in the BC Division.
The Cougars opened the scoring for the second straight night with Kayden Lemire finding the back of the net for the only goal of the first period.
It wasn't until 15:32 of the second that Ryden Evers wired home his team-leading 23rd of the season to make the score 1-1 heading into the third.
Tristan Petersen scored his 10th of the season, taking a pass from Jacob Kvasnicka, to make the score 2-1 Vees 1:12 into the final frame.
Prince George would tie the game off the rush with just under eight minutes remaining off the stick of Brock Souch.
Johnson scored the game winner with 57 seconds left banking a centering pass off of a Cougars defender and up over the shoulder of the goaltender to make the final 3-2. The Vees penalty kill was excellent going three-for-three on the night against a Cougars powerplay that is first in the WHL.
GAME STATS
Shots:
Vees- 30
Cougars- 30
Scoring:
Vees- Ryden Evers, Tristan Petersen, Diego Johnson
Cougars- Kayden Lemire, Brock Souch
Power Plays:
Vees- 0/1
Cougars- 0/3
Goaltending:
Vees- Ethan McCallum - 28/30
Cougars- Joshua Ravensbergen - 27/30
Up Next: The Vees are back home at the SOEC Friday when they host the Kamloops Blazers to begin a Friday-Saturday home-and-home. Puck drop is 7:00PM.
Images from this story
 Penticton Vees huddle (Prince George Cougars) |
Western Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2026
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