Everett’s Connor Dewar broke a scoreless tie late in the third period, as the Silvertips topped the Prince George Cougars 1-0 in pre-season action Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre.
The loss drops the Cougars’ pre-season record to 2-2, as they wrap up their five-game pre-season road trip tomorrow against the Victoria Royals.
Dewar scored the game-winning goal at 17:50 of the third period, taking a centering pass from the right-wing and squeaking the puck through the legs of Taylor Gauthier. The Cougars’ goaltender lost his stick seconds before the goal, fighting off a rebound at the side of the net.
All three goalies looked sharp Saturday afternoon, with Cougars’ starter Tavin Grant turning aside all 22 shots he faced in 29-minutes of action. Gauthier replaced Grant in the back half of the second and he stopped 10 of 11. Everett goaltender Dorrin Luding picked up the win, stopping all 26 shots he faced for the clean sheet.
The game had its fair share of penalties, as the Cougars killed-off all six Everett power-plays. The Cougars couldn’t capitalize on any of their four opportunities.
Prince George had its chances to score, especially late, as they were handed a power-play with just 71-seconds left. Down 1-0, PG pulled their goalie to make it a six-on-four advantage but they couldn’t manufacture an equalizer.
The Cougars looked their best in the third period, as they outshot Everett 14-7 after being outshot 26-12 in the first 40-minutes.
FINAL SCORE: 1-0 Everett
Shots: 33-26 Everett
Power-Plays: Prince George 0-4 Everett 0-6
Prince George wraps up their weekend tomorrow when they face B.C. Division rivals Victoria at 12 pm. Fans can follow the game on the Cougars’ Twitter account and live scoring updates are available at www.WHL.ca