The Prince George Cougars are a step closer to the BC Division title with a 5-3 win over the Wenatchee Wild last night.
“I thought our second period, we created a lot of chances,” said Cougars Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“I give that goalie a lot of credit, he’s played a lot of hockey and he’s hanging right in there, big win for us.”
The Wild have become familiar opponents for the Cats in recent weeks, with last night’s contest the fourth time they’ve faced off in ten days.
“We shoot ourselves in the foot a lot, and we have against them,” Lamb said.
“You take some penalties, you don’t get the puck in, and that’s the biggest thing with these guys, because they’re so structured and they play honest, if you don’t play honest against them and you try to cheat a little bit, they’ll make you pay.”
The Cougars have also won nine of their last ten games.
“You don’t win by mistake and we’re doing a lot of good things to win,” Lamb said.
“Process, improvement, we’re trying to get better all the time, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Koehn Ziemmer opened the scoring on the powerplay to set the Cougars new all-time powerplay goals mark at 37.
Riley Heidt’s 250th career assist, of course it was scored on a Koehn Ziemmer goal 😸@mnwild | @LAKings | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/fXbQ2VOR8j pic.twitter.com/6vp6bCx7K9
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 16, 2025
The powerplay seems to be clicking for the Cats, as Viliam Kmec tapped home a cross-ice feed from Ziemmer.
Kmec taps home his 18th of the season on the powerplay! 2-1!@GoldenKnights | @CarlsJrCA pic.twitter.com/tCjR1NtTlk
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 16, 2025
Matteo Danis has been clicking as well, and sniped home his 15th of the season.
Matteo Danis snipes home his 15th of the season!@CarlsJrCA https://t.co/AHKOdMylby pic.twitter.com/iYCdL74Vqu
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 16, 2025
The Wild erased a 3-1 deficit with a pair of goals from Evan Friesen in the third, but Borya Valis potted the eventual winner 16:08 into the third.
A HUGE goal from Valis to put us back on top late!@MapleLeafs | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/ORI3Qn0AjG pic.twitter.com/MnMCoihYHV
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 16, 2025
Aiden Foster also found the empty net to send the 5,600 fans at the CN Centre home with a free small pizza from Domino’s.
“The guys like playing at home, the crowd’s into it, everyone’s into it, and that’s the way it should be this time of year,” Lamb said about the big crowds the team has seen recently.
“We got an exciting hockey team, we want to do something special, and we’ve just got to take it step by step, we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Riley Heidt picked up four assists on the night, and Carson Carels had three.
Cooper Michaluk got the nod in net, making 27 saves on 30 shots.
“He just works so hard, but he’s playing really good,” Lamb said.
“Nothing better going into the situation that we’re in with two really good goalies.”
The box score is here.
The Cougars (40-20-4-2) are on top of the WHL’s BC Division, leading the Victoria Royals by two points.
Victoria has two games in hand.
The WHL standings are here.
The Cougars will host the Royals for the last two games of the season, with the BC Division crown on the line.
“That’s really exciting, we talked about it after that last weekend when we were in Victoria, it was a tough weekend for us, but we never thought we were out of it, and the guys are proving it,” Lamb said.
The full Cougars schedule is here.
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