Even with a GPS tracking system, the Prince George Cougars still might not have been able to find Gabe Klassen.
The 18-year-old forward from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan sliced and diced his way through some poor defensive coverage in a 5-3 win on Saturday at CN Centre.
“These are tough games to play after the travel. I give our team a lot of credit for how we played last night (Friday). I thought we were a little bit in and out tonight but I also give PG credit for how they played, they played a harder forechecking game and gave us some trouble on the rush,” said Mike Johnston, Winterhawks head coach.
“I think we could have played a little bit better but to come away with four points at this time of the year is really important.”
After an even start, a Jared Brinson tripping call opened the floodgates for the Winterhawks as a cross-ice feed from Jack O’Brien found James Stefan who fired a hard wrist shot off the post and past Cougars netminder Tyler Brennan for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
That. Release.😳
James Stefan nets his 27th of the season with an absolute snipe!@pdxwinterhawks | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/0vhw26Gb3X
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 27, 2022
Like a broken record, the porous defensive coverage continued into the middle frame as Klassen streaked down the middle and buried a rebound shot past Brennan, doubling the Portland lead.
“The one thing that is sometimes overlooked about Gabe is that he is a good 200-foot player, so he is good defensively, he is a really good penalty killer, great on faceoffs. Recently, he has started to score more and I think those things start to come with maturity and experience,” added Johnston.
The Cougars offense finally erupted as a Hudson Thornton point shot fooled Winterhawks netminder Dante Giannuzzi as forward Carter MacAdams provided a brief screen in front.
On a night where a mega 50-50 jackpot was claimed, Klassen once again struck it rich in the Cats defensive zone slipping past Cougars overage forward Connor Bowie, tapping home an easy feed from Stefan for a 3-1 lead.
Certified crease crossers!
James Stefan sets up Gabe Klassen for his 25th of the season!@pdxwinterhawks | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/9zYkkwy8XQ
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 27, 2022
The goals came fast and furiously to begin the third, as a Clay Hanus saucer pass found Tyson Kozak who had an easy tap-in past a sprawled out Brennan – to collect his 100th career WHL point.
The @pdxwinterhawks get the ball rolling 17 seconds into the third period!
Tyson Kozak and Clay Hanus are to blame.@BuffaloSabres pic.twitter.com/8zHQdH39LU
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 27, 2022
Back-to-back goals from 16-year-old standout Riley Heidt thickened the plot for Cougar fans, trimming the deficit down to one. While on a power-play, Koehn Zimmer dished the puck from below the goal line deflecting off a Winterhawk and Heidt blasted it home.
Less than two minutes later, the former Saskatoon Contacts star struck again where he zipped a sharp-angle shot past Gianuzzi who lost his balance and fell into the goal.
However, Stefan put a pin through all of the balloons and deflated any chance of a Cougars comeback with his second of the game.
Stefan and Klassen were responsible for four out of the five Portland markers while Clay Hanus and Jayden Dureau each collected two assists.
“We used a lot of motion by just getting our defense involved to try and mix them up and obviously it worked out for us,” added Klassen.
Furthermore, Klassen recorded a hat-trick in Friday’s 7-2 thumping over the slumping Cats.
“I think the whole team was playing well this weekend. We knew their team was going to come out hard and we were ready for it plus our line played well, we had a lot of o-zone time and we were able to capitalize on our chances,” said Klassen.
The Winterhawks improve their record to 34-13-3-2, one point back of the Kamloops Blazers for second place in the Western Conference.
“Usually, there are two or three strong teams in the US Division and honestly, I think it makes you better. It makes you better over the course of the year if you have to play tough games night in and night out,” Johnston said.
PG on the other hand continues to trend in the wrong direction going 1-8-1-0 in their past 10 games, while claiming a record of 19-29-2-1.
The Cougars also remain ice cold at the CN Centre dropping their last seven contests – their last victory came on January 18th over the Victoria Royals.
2,583 fans filled the seats for the second-half of the double-header, which saw Richard Sitoski take home $93,600.
WHAT. A. JACKPOT.
Congratulations to Richard Sitoski for winning tonight’s massive Mega 50/50! pic.twitter.com/PBEwztfQL9
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) February 27, 2022
The proceeds from the mega jackpot support the Prince George Community Foundation/Rotary Club project to build a multi-use park in the city.
Local snowboarder and two-time Olympic bronze medalist Meryeta O’Dine received a hero’s welcome as she dropped the puck during a ceremonial faceoff. To add some flair to the festivities, the Winterhawks coaching staff sent out former Cougars netminder Taylor Gauthier to take the draw against Cougars captain Jonny Hooker.
PG continues an eight-game home stand against the Spokane Chiefs (15-30-4-1) next Friday and Saturday.
Puck drop for each game is 7pm.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
