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10-30-2006, 09:44 AM
From: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/

Monday, October 30, 2006
Cats sharpshooters against Silverttips
by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff

An optimist would say they took advantage of their chances. A pessimist would claim they didn’t do enough to generate scoring opportunities.

Either way, the Prince George Cougars were forced to be satisfied with a non-result Saturday night at CN Centre against the Everett Silvertips. Poor ice conditions forced postponement of the game after two periods, with Prince George leading 2-1 (see above story).

The Cougars had only four shots on goal in the first period but scored on two of them. After Everett’s Zach Hamill had opened the scoring on a power play by snapping home a perfect feed from Kyle Beach, Devin Setoguchi and Eric Hunter found the mark for Prince George. Setoguchi, from the bottom of the right faceoff circle, beat Silvertips goalie Leland Irving high to the glove side. Hunter then tipped home a point shot from Ty Wishart. Nick Drazenovic picked up assists on both goals.

After the two completed periods, the Silvertips — under defence-first coach Kevin Constantine — were outshooting the Cougars 18-7.

“I don’t think you can really judge how you play against Everett by the shots on goal,” Hunter said. “I don’t think they ever allow a lot of shots on net. I think we did take advantage of the few opportunities we did have. At the same time, the shots on goal don’t dictate the play because I think we had a lot of shots that were blocked, and that’s kind of Everett’s forte. They get in the lanes and they block a lot of shots. I think for the most part the game play was even. If not, I think we held the edge. We got outshot and that’s something we’re not happy about, but we’ll take it with a 2-1 lead.”

A key in the game for the Cougars was penalty killing. Prince George kept Everett to 1-for-6 on the power play, including shutting down a two-man Silvertips advantage in the second period. The Cougars kept pressure on the puck when the Silvertips were in possession and clogged up the passing lanes effectively. At one point in the second period, with Evan Fuller in the penalty box for holding, Prince George forward Brett Robertson managed to keep the puck deep in the Everett zone against three Silvertips.

On Friday night, a 2-0 win against Saskatoon, the Cougars kept the Blades off the scoresheet on seven power plays.

“We’ve been good in the faceoff circle when we’ve been shorthanded,” said Cougars head coach Mike Vandekamp. “We’re really concentrating on our clearing, making sure the puck gets out and down the ice. We’ve changed our forecheck a little bit, shortened our shifts and our D are starting to understand just how aggressive we want them to be. I think that understanding and that trust is starting to kick in.”

Jared Walker and Robertson, who were healthy scratches from Friday night’s game because of missing their team-imposed curfews, were back in the lineup Saturday. Neither of the overage forwards factored in the scoring.

The Cougars host the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday.