RECAP: Americans (2) @ Cougars (5) – February 1, 2025
Prince George, B.C. – The Tri-City Americans (23-20-4-1) opened the scoring and held a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes, but the Prince George Cougars (28-15-3-2) scored twice in 46 seconds in the second period, taking a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 5-2 final at the CN Centre Saturday night.
A few minutes before Tri-City actually opened the scoring, Jake Sloan thought he had given his team the lead. A puck thrown towards the Cougars net deflected high into the air and Sloan waived at it with his stick.
The puck dropped down and hit Josh Ravensbergen before Sloan batted it out of midair and in. The referee signaled goal, but the Cougars motioned for a high stick and the goal was reviewed. After a lengthy delay it was ruled that Sloan knocked down the initial chance with a high stick and the goal was taken back.
Not long after the Americans scored a goal that wasn’t called back. Max Curran skated into the Cougars zone and a let a shot go along the ice and caught Ravensbergen off guard, sliding through his pads for Curran’s 16th of the season. Jake Gudelj and Sloan picked up assists on the goal, extending Sloan’s point streak to 10 games.
Later in the period it was the Cougars who had a goal waived off. Bauer Dumanski raced into the Americans zone, powering his way between the two defensemen. As he fell to the ice he chopped the puck to net before crashing into Ryan Grout and knocking the net off.
The referee behind the net signaled goal, and again they went to the video review booth to confirm. A few minutes later the goal was taken back, keeping the Americans ahead 1-0.
In the final minute of the first Terrell Goldsmith caught Ben Riche with a clean hit in the neutral zone, knocking the Cougars leading scorer out of the game. At the same time, Slaon and Aleksey Chichkin dropped the gloves in the Cougars zone.
Tri-City took their 1-0 lead into the first intermission with the shots tied at 10.
The second period had a different pace as the Cougars came out with jump, immediately pouring on the pressure. It eventually led to an Americans penalty and a Cougars power play goal.
Borya Valis took a pass before skating into the right circle and firing a shot over the glove of Grout to tie the game just 14 seconds into the power play.
The goal only added to the Cougars momentum as they continued to pressure in the Americans end, taking the lead moments later.
After Grout made a remarkable stop on Aiden Foster, stretching out to his left off a centering feed, there was confusion about where the puck was. The crowd thought it was in the net as the goal light went on and the goal horn went off.
The puck was in between the feet Grout, who also wasn’t sure where it was, and Riley Heidt was able to swoop in, dig it loose and put it home to put the Cougars ahead 2-1.
Prince George racked up 11 shots on net before the Americans registered their first of the period, but thanks to the strong play of Grout the score remained 2-1 for the rest of the second period.
A turnover early in the third period cost Tri-City as Prince George extended their lead. A pass from the Americans goal line toward the front of the net was picked off and a three-way passing play was finished off by Valis 4:47 into the third.
The Americans nearly cut into the lead later in the period, only to see the Cougars rush up ice and make it 4-1. Gavin Garland took a pass in front of the Prince George net after a turn over, finding himself alone against Ravensbergen.
The Cougars goaltender quickly poked the puck away from Garland, sending Prince George up ice the other way. It led to a two-on-one rush and Matteo Danis beating Grout from the right circle 8:23 into the final period.
Prince George then added another goal when Koehn Zeimmer beat Grout off the rush from the left circle to push the lead to 5-1.
The Americans got the final word on the scoresheet as they went to a power play in the game’s final minutes. Jaxen Adam, fresh off scoring his first WHL goal on Friday, fired the puck along the ice to the net from the left-wing boards and it went through the pads of Ravensbergen for his second goal in as many games. Ismail Abougouche and Nick Anisimovicz picked up assists on the goal.
The game ended 5-2 as the Americans dropped both games at the CN Centre during the weekend double header. They now return home to welcome the Cougars to the Toyota Center on Tuesday night.