BY COLE WALDIE
Prince George Cougars
PORTLAND, OR – The Prince George Cougars are headed back home with a win to force a Game 6 on Monday night after a convincing 6-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks, Thursday at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.
Koehn Ziemmer led the Cougar offence scoring twice, while Hunter Laing, Ondrej Becher, Borya Valis, and Keaton Dowhaniuk also added singles. Joshua Ravensbergen was outstanding in the PG goal, making 25 saves on 26 Portland shots.
GOALS:
1st PERIOD:
1-0 Winterhawks at 7:03 – Gabe Klassen (5) assisted by Tyson Jugnauth // Tyson Jugnauth’s shot from th attacking blue-line took a lively bounce off the end board and found the stick of Gabe Klassen who slid the puck in to give Portland a 1-0 lead.
1-1 Cougars at 9:43 – Koehn Ziemmer (3) assisted by Viliam Kmec // Slovakian blue-liner Viliam Kmec spotted LA Kings prospect Koehn Ziemmer at the left circle and Ziemmer ripped a wrist shot past the glove of Jan Śpunar to tie the game at one.
2-1 Cougars at 18:38 – Koehn Ziemmer (4) assisted by Ondrej Becher and Keaton Dowhaniuk // Kohen Ziemmer was able to work the puck to left wing circle once again and his wrist shot hit the glove on Jan Špunar and it trickled in to give the Cats a 2-1 lead late in the first period.
2nd PERIOD:
3-1 Cougars at 11:47 – Hunter Laing (1) (PP) assisted by Borya Valis and Hudson Thornton // After some good work and movement on the power-play from the Cougars, the puck found Hunter Laing in front of the goal, and the 6’6 forward from Kelowna put the puck through his legs and by Špunar to give the Cats a 3-1 lead.
3rd PERIOD:
4-1 Cougars at 3:22 – Ondrej Becher (5) – assisted by Oren Shtrom // After a miscue at the blue-line from Tyson Jugnauth, the puck was stolen by Oren Shtrom and spotted a streaking Ondrej Becher up the middle and fired in his fifth of the playoffs to extend the PG lead.
5-1 Cougars at 11:19 – Borya Valis (8) (PS) // Valis was taken down on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot. The Denver, CO product made no mistake and fired the puck through Špunar to make the game 5-1 Cats.
6-1 Cougars at 13:30 – Keaton Dowhaniuk (4) – assisted by Ondrej Becher and Oren Shtrom // The Cats continued to snap the puck around in the offensive zone and Oren Shtrom found Ondrej Becher who the found Keaton Dowhaniuk all alone with a wide open net at the left circle and made no mistake to make it 6-1 Cougars and ultimately force a Game 6 on Monday night at the CN Centre.