The Cougars go back across the border without any points from their two games in Seattle and Everett. Prince George ends their weekend road trip Sunday afternoon in Langley, against the Vancouver Giants.
Silvertips’ 16-year-old rookie netminder Dustin Wolf stopped all 31 shots he faced, for his first career WHL shutout, and Patrick Bajkov, Sean Richards and Riley Sutter supplied the offense; Sutter had a pair of goals in the win.
Taylor Gauthier faced quite a bit of rubber, as he stopped 50 of 54 shots in the loss
After a scoreless first period, it only took Everett 16-seconds to open the scoring in the second period. Riley Sutter poked in the puck from the crease, after his squirted through Gauthier’s legs.
Vladislav Mikhalchuk, in his final game before leaving to play for Belarus at the World Juniors, had arguably the Cougars’ best scoring chance. Down 1-0, Mikhalchuk intercepted a cross-ice pass at his own blue-line and raced back the other way. On a partial breakaway, he fired a wrist-shot but he couldn’t get it over Wolf’s arm.
Late in the middle frame the Cougars got another opportunity to try and equalize, as they were handed a power-play. However, Everett struck short-handed, as Patrick Bajkov finished off a two-on-one after the Cougars turned the puck over in the other end. Bajkov scoring his team-leading 19th with just 1:19 left.
Everett added to their lead four-minutes into the third, as Sutter got his second of the game, and again from inside the crease. On a Silvertips power-play, from the side of the net, Sutter jammed at the puck, which then caromed off a Cougars’ defenceman and inside the far-post.
Sean Richards put the finishing touches on the with, shoveling a backhand on the short-side past Gauthier just over two-minutes after Sutter’s goal. Richards squeezing the puck between the post and Gauthier’s arm at 6:40.
Final Score: 4-0 Everett
Shots: 54-31 Everett
Power-Plays: Cougars 0-4 Everett 1-4
Three Stars: 1) Dustin Wolf 2) Riley Sutter 3) Patrick Bajkov
It’s the second straight game the Silvertips shutout the Cougars, as they were blanked 4-0 by Everett back on November 11th, at the CN Centre; Carter Hart picked up the clean sheet that night.
Prince George (12-16-3-2) looks for a win in Langley tomorrow afternoon against the surging Vancouver Giants (17-13-2-2). It’s a 4 pm start, as Sunday is the Giants’ annual Teddy Bear Toss game. Fans can listen to the game on 94.3 The GOAT, or they can watch online, via WHL Live.
-Prince George Cougars
