Failure to convert on the power-play, particularly late in the 2nd period, cost the Prince George Cougars in a 3-1 Friday loss to the WHL-leading Everett Silvertips before 4,158 fans at CN Centre.
The game summary and highlights are here.
The Cougars went 0-for-5 with the man advantage compared to the Silvertips 1-for-3.
In fact, a turning point came late in the 2nd period when Prince George, down a goal, had a two-man advantage for 66 seconds but after a Cougars timeout they failed to tie the game.
The Silvertips built up a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes and there wasn’t another goal until Eric Jamieson put one into an empty net (his 9th of the season) with 1:11 remaining in the 3rd period.
15-year-old exceptional status defenceman Landon Dupont was as good as advertised.
He opened the scoring on a power-play at 8:28 of the first period and was strong at both ends of the ice playing tons of minutes in all the key situations for Everett.
Dups knows powerplay goals. #ForEverett
pic.twitter.com/UGVAa6EYVo— x – Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) February 15, 2025
Dupont, named the 2nd star, finished with a game-high 8 shots on goal to go along with a plus-one rating.
He leads all WHL rookies in scoring with 51 points (including 13 goals) in 50 games.
Matteo Danis tied the game at 1, netting his 10th of the season after deflecting a Carson Carels point shot with 3:27 remaining in the opening period.
Four goals in five games for Matteo Danis! 🤩🤩🤩@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/RFxM0XqzOx pic.twitter.com/hi9uUmfPoY
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) February 15, 2025
The game-winner came at 19:24 of the first as Tyler Mackenzie cashed in a rebound for his 28th goal of the season.
Each team had 28 shots.
18-year-old Raiden LeGall, who started the season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, was the first star with 27 saves while 18-year-old Josh Ravensbergen was the 3rd star, blocking 25 of 27.
The loss ended the Cougars six-game point streak and it dropped them further behind the Victoria Royals in the race for first place in the BC Division.
The (32-14-3-5) Royals won their 6th straight, 5-2 over the Vancouver Giants to increase their lead to six points over Prince George with the Cougars holding two games in hand.
The (38-9-4-3) Silvertips visit the (30-16-4-2) Cougars again tonight before Everett plays Monday in Victoria.
The Cougars 3rd game in 4 days will be Monday afternoon at 2:00 against the Giants in Langley.
Prince George will play a doubleheader in Victoria on Feb 21st and 22nd.
The Cougars 2024-25 regular season schedule and results are here.