The Prince George Cougars defeated Seattle 2-1 in a WHL shootout Wednesday night to complete a back-to-back, home game sweep of the Thunderbirds at CN Centre.
The Cougars won Tuesday’s game, 6-4 Tuesday night.
Seattle (20-23-3-3) is in the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, seven points ahead of the Cougars. The T-Birds are four points behind the Kelowna Rockets (23-23-1-2) for the first wild-card playoff spot.
Prince George goalie Taylor Gauthier stopped Matthew Rempe in the first round of the shootout while Seattle goalie Roddy Ross stopped Ethan Browne.
Gauthier made the save on Seattle’s second shooter, Andrej Kukuca. Vladislav Mikhalchuk beat Ross to give the Cougars a 1-0 shootout lead after two rounds.
Simon Kubicek came off the bench for Seattle needing to score, and he did just that beating Gauthier on the stick side. Ross made the saves on the Cougars’ third shooter, Ilijah Colina sending the shootout to sudden death.
Gauthier stopped Mount but Ross was not able to make the save on Cole Moberg and the Cougars won the game.
Seattle took a 1-0 late in the first period on a power-play goal by Andrej Kukuca. Payton Mount won a battle for the puck behind the Prince George net to Simon Kubicek in the left corner. Kubicek passed the puck to Kukuca in the high slot. Kukuca took a stride and then put a wrist shot on goal that beat Gauthier on the stick side.
Prince George tied the game 1-1 with six minutes left in the second period when Colina scored.
Notes
The T-Birds return home for a 6:05 p.m. Saturday game against the Everett Silvertips. They play Prince George on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. at the accesso ShoWare Center.
Single-game tickets are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. Fans who purchase the 24-flex ticket package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2019-20 season.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Kukuca 19 (Kubicek, Mount), 18:13 (pp). Penalties – Schoettler, PG (tripping), 17:03. Bauer, Sea (tripping), 19:51.
Second period – 2, Prince George, Colina 8 (Schoettler), 14:00. Penalties – Ciona, Sea (cross checking), 3:43. McNelly, Sea (cross checking), 7:04. Mikhalchuk, PG (high-sticking), 7:06. Davidson, Sea (roughing), 10:59. Creta, PG (cross checking), 10:59.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Rempe, Sea (interference), 2:12. Bateman, Sea (hooking), 16:58.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Shootout – Seattle 1 (Rempe NG, Kukuca NG, Kubicek G, Mount NG). Prince George 2 (Browne NG, Mikhalchuk G, Colina NG, Moberg G).
Shots on goal – Seattle 9-12-11-3 35, Prince George 10-7-7-1 25. Goalies – Seattle, Ross 25 shots-24 saves (16-17-3-3); Prince George, Gauthier 35-34 (12-19-3-4). Power plays – Seattle 1-2; Prince George 0-5. Referees – Bryan Bourdon, Trevor Nolan. Linesmen – Trevor Beaton, Tyler Garden.
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