ICE vs PG Cougars aprt two! GO ICE GO!!!

[fightstrap50]

Well hopefully the guys can learn from the previous game against the Cougars and come out firing on all cylinders. I dont know if both new D-men will be playing yet tonight, but I hope if they are they can contribute a good solid effort on the blue line by keeping the shots to a minimum and the Cougs from having open ice. Im hear listening and i aint going nowhere. Lets go Ice!

I think the ICE will come out a lot harder tonight and hopefully fill the net with lots of black frozen rubber. Have a good game tonight ICE and put two more points into your standings and another "W" in the wins column.

GO ICE GO!!! :thumb:

[scamperdog]

Cats iced in shootout
Overtime point leaves Cougars tied for first place princegeorgecitzen.com

by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff

First place in the Western Hockey League's toughest division was within their reach. The Prince George Cougars sunk in their claws, even though they didn't win the game.
Friday night at CN Centre, the Cougars and Kootenay Ice went to a shootout to break a 2-2 tie after regulation time and a five-minute overtime session. With the single point for the shootout loss, the Cats pulled even with the Kelowna Rockets for top spot in the B.C. Division. Both teams have played 18 games and have 25 points.

In Friday's shootout, the first-ever in the history of the Cougars franchise, Dale Mahovsky and Ben Maxwell used dekes to score on Prince George goalie Scott Bowles. Colin Patterson, with a backhand deke to the glove side, was the lone Cougars shooter to get a puck past Kootenay keeper Kris Lazaruk. The game officially ended 3-2 in favour of the Ice.

Friday night in Kelowna, the Rockets lost 2-1 to the Calgary Hitmen.

For the Cougars, the shootout loss was hard to swallow, but the pain was eased by the knowledge they are now a first-place hockey team.

"(The tie for first) is a bonus, but the guys are pretty down in (the dressing room) because we worked so hard," said Cougars assistant coach Stew Malgunas. "I give Kootenay a lot of credit though. They're a team with some veterans who have actually played on Memorial Cup-winning teams. They have Mahovsky and (Adam) Cracknell that were there when they won the Cup. When you have that kind of leadership you're always going to be a tough team to beat.

"But I was real proud of our guys," Malgunas added. "Both goalies played excellent. It's just a shame when a hard-fought game like that comes down to breakaway competition, in my opinion."

Fans were treated to a third period that had playoff-like atmosphere. The crowd was jumping, and so were the players on the ice. In just one of the highlights of the period, Bowles made sure the game went to overtime when he used his cat-quick reflexes to make a glove save on Kootenay's Ryan Russell with just 18.46 seconds left in regulation time.

Another high point of the third was a fight between Evan Fuller of the Cougars and Mahovsky of the Ice. Actually, it wasn't much of a fight at all, as Fuller laid a beating on Mahovsky, landing a series of uppercuts to Mahovsky's melon until the Kootenay player finally crumpled to the ice surface. Fuller's decisive win drew perhaps the loudest cheer of the season from the folks in the seats.

Cougars captain Myles Zimmer said the players fed off the energy of the crowd.

"The building was hopping and it was nice to see," said Zimmer, who scored the first goal of the game for the Cougars. "Obviously it's nice when you have a bigger crowd (3,643). I think that was probably the biggest one of the year and definitely the most energetic one. I think they saw a pretty exciting game. We wish we could have won it for them. Hopefully they'll keep coming out like that and cheering like that."

The Cats came close to winning the game in the four-on-four overtime but Lazaruk - much like Bowles did late in the third — flashed his glove to make a save on Devin Featherstone with 34.24 seconds left on the clock.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after 40 minutes. In both periods, the Cougars showed character by fighting back from one-goal deficits.

Steve DaSilva opened the scoring just 51 seconds into the game when he snapped a shot past Bowles, high on the glove side, taken from the slot. Zimmer got the Cougars back on even terms at the 16:35 mark of the first when he poked a rebound past Lazaruk on a Prince George power play. The goal was Zimmer's fifth of the season.

In the second, Mahovsky let go with a pro-style snap shot from the right faceoff circle and beat Bowles cleanly. Kirk Meaver, with his second of the year, tied the game on a Cougars power play. Parked at the left side of the net, Meaver banked a puck off the stick of a Kootenay defender and past Lazaruk.

The Cougars are now an impressive 12-5-0-1 on the season.

"I'm happy to see the fans starting to believe in this team," Malgunas said. "The thing about this team is, we're still missing our top defenceman (Andy Rogers, ankle injury) and still missing some real key guys up front. With a move here or there, we should be a team that's right up there in this league. I think the fans are starting to realize we're not just a flash in the pan."

The Cougars are back on CN Centre ice Sunday at 6:30 p.m. for a game against the Red Deer Rebels. For the Cats, the game is the last of five straight at home. The Cougars will not see home ice again until a Nov. 26 date with the Kamloops Blazers.

KITTY LITTER: Greg Gardner returned to the Cougars lineup Friday night after missing two games with a concussion. Friday's game marked the beginning of a new WHL policy that will give teams a one-minute timeout at the 10-minute mark of each period. The timeout, which will be in effect for the remainder of the season, has been instituted for the benefit of radio stations broadcasting WHL games.


©Copyright 2005 Prince George Citizen
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[Spungy]

Thanks for the article, it is always fun to read what the other teams writers have to say about the game

[Sput]

I ended up being busy all day, so I'm just now catching up on here. AWSOME game last night. End to end action. Big...no huge hits, good tilt (tho I think Muhovsky is a little bit sore today) and in soooo many ways a disappointing end. Best way to describe it is WOW. Both goalies stood on their heads for good parts of the night. To bad we won't get to see your guys up here again untill round 2 of the playoffs. :D

[tender]

A day late in saying this but a great job by the boys in PG fri night to get the win and I believe their first shootout win . Now tonight in Kamloops hopefully the boys can come out hard and take it to them they owe the Blazers a beating after their last visit in the Loop and this will mark Taylor Dakers return into the nets against the Blazers good to hear hes going to be back in action I wish him the best of luck in his return , but at the sametime a fantastic job in the nets by Kris Lazaruk he has definitely proven he can be a number one goaltender in the Whl , Dakers definitely has his work cut out for him to be the number 1 goaltender for the Ice the remainder of the season and into the playoffs . go Ice go vs the Blazers tonight !! :clap: