BY COLE WALDIE
Prince George Cougars
It was a night to remember for the Prince George Cougars as they concluded their 2024 home schedule with a 6-3 win over the Kamloops Blazers, on Saturday at the CN Centre.
Carson Carels scored the elusive Teddy Bear goal, triggering thousands of stuffies onto the ice. Hunter Laing scored twice in the win, while Riley Heidt, Koehn Ziemmer, and Aiden Foster also found the back of the net. Josh Ravensbergen picked up the win in goal, making 25 saves on 28 shots.
GOALS:
1st PERIOD:
1-0 Blazers at 0:24 – Emmitt Finnie (18) assisted by Tommy Lafreniere and Ryan Michael // Kamloops kick-started the scoring in a hurry as Blazer captain Emmitt Finnie raced up the left wing and snuck a shot underneath the glove of Josh Ravensbergen to make it 1-0
2-0 Blazers at 7:44 – Jordan Keller (13) (PP) assisted by Layton Feist and Emmitt Finnie // On a Blazer power-play, Layton Feist’s shot from the blue-line was tipped in by Jordan Keller to give Kamloops a 2-0 lead.
2-1 Cougars at 13:56 – Carson Carels (3) (PP) assisted by Koehn Ziemmer and Borya Valis // On a Cougar 5 on 3, Carson Carels delivered the Teddy Bear goal, rifling a one-timer by goaltender Logan Edmonstone to make it 2-1.
2nd PERIOD:
2-2 Cougars at 13:56 – Aiden Foster (2) assisted by Riley Heidt and Josh Ravensbergen // The Cats equalized the contest late in the period as Riley Heidt made a tremendous effort to get by the Blazer defenceman and spot Aiden Foster who fired the puck in front of the goal by Edmonstone to make it 2-2.
3-2 Blazers at 14:54 – Jordan Keller (14) (PP) assisted by Oren Shtrom and Emmitt Finnie // Kamloops regained the lead in a hurry as a pretty passing play in the offensive zone finished off with Keller tapping in his second the night to give Kamloops the lead.
3-3 Cougars at 16:32 – Hunter Laing (8) assisted by Borya Valis and Arseni Anisimov // PG responded swiftly as Borya Valis made a pretty feed to Hunter Laing in tight and the Calgary Flames product made no mistake to give PG a late period lead.
3rd PERIOD:
4-3 Cougars at 2:00 – Hunter Laing (9) assisted by Jett Lajoie and Viliam Kmec // Early in the third, Laing did it again as he received a pass from Jett Lajoie and wristed a one-timer by Edmonstone to put the Cougars in the lead.
5-3 Cougars at 10:41 – Koehn Ziemmer (20) assisted by Carson Carels and Hunter Laing // The Cats extended their lead as the puck found 20-year-old sniper Koehn Ziemmer who slid the puck at the right wing side by Edmonstone. This goal earned the fans a free Domino’s pizza. This marks the fourth time Ziemmer has scored the Pizza goal.
6-3 Cougars at 13:44 – Riley Heidt (13) assisted by Terik Parascak and Koehn Ziemmer // Prince George added another as Riley Heidt collected the puck off a faceoff win the offensive zone and fired home his 13th of the year to solidify a nice win for the Cougars.