The Portland Winterhawks continue to have the Prince George Cougars number.
The Winterhawks beat the Cougars in the spring, taking the 2024 Western Conference Final in six games (4-2).
This season, the teams met four times with Portland coming out on top in all four.
25 % of the 16 Portland victories in the 24-25 season have come against Prince George.
Friday night (Dec 13th) before 3,212 fans in Portland, the Winterhawks outscored the Cougars 4-1, ending the Prince George three-game winning streak.
Ondrej Štěbeták, the 3rd star, was superb in net making 39 saves as Prince George outshot the hosts 40-34.
Josh Ravensbergen took the loss in net, only the 4th time in 23 games (15-4-3-1) he has suffered defeat in regulation time.
Josh Zakreski, the 1st star, notched a hat trick for the (16-12-2) Winterhawks, who enjoyed period leads of 2-1 and 3-1.
Defenceman Kayd Ruedig, the 2nd star, added a goal and two assists.
Sniper Borya Vallis tallied the only P.G. goal.
“I thought we had a really good first period but then we got stubborn and did not stay with it. We wanted to go off script, we wanted to do too much individual stuff; turning pucks over and we did not have the leadership to take charge,” said Cougars associate coach Jim Playfair on the 94.3 Goal post-game show.
The loss leaves the (16-9-3-2) Cougars tied with the (16-10-3-2) Victoria Royals for top spot in the B.C. Division with Prince George having a game in hand.
The Royals skunked the Vancouver Giants 4-0 in the provincial capital Friday.
After getting cut from Canada’s national junior team, Captain Riley Heidt will return to the Cougars lineup Saturday night in Spokane with their road trip continuing against the Chiefs.
Spokane also played on the road Friday, scoring a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Prince George will also play Tuesday in Kelowna before heading out on its Christmas break.
Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you…. Your final scores!#WHLScores pic.twitter.com/NRHgGXlWoy
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 14, 2024
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