GAME DAY: Cougars at Swift Current Broncos
TONIGHT… The Prince George Cougars continue their six-game East Division road trip, as they take on the high-flying Swift Current Broncos. The Cougars are coming off an entertaining 4-3 shootout loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night. The Broncos are back home after just sweeping the Regina Pats over the weekend, winning 3-1 Saturday afternoon at home and 4-1 Sunday afternoon in Regina. Tonight, is the first and only meeting between these two non-conference opponents. Last season, the Cougars dropped a 5-4 OT decision to the Broncos at the CN Centre. This is the first trip to Swift Current for the Cougars since January 29th, 2016, when they again were bested by the Broncos in OT (4-3). The Cougars are 1-1-1-0 in their last three trips to Swift Current, dating back to October, 2011.
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THE LAST GAME… Prince George was 40-second away from their first win of their road trip Saturday but had to settle for a single point, in their 4-3 shootout loss to the Blades. Saskatoon tied the game inside the final minute of the third period, on a six-on-four power-play, then they prevailed in the six-round shootout. Despite the loss, the Cougars’ Isaiah DiLaura was superb in net, stopping 35 of 38 shots, including all six shots in overtime, and was named the game’s second star. Joel Lakusta, Ilijah Colina and Ryan Schoettler scored in regulation for the Cougars. The game had some bad blood, literally, as there were two fights inside the first two periods. So far, Prince George is 0-1-0-1 on their East Division road swing.
COUGARS TRACKS… Despite the setback Saturday in Saskatoon, it was a step in the right direction for the Cougars, as they did everything they needed to do to pick up two points. It was a total team buy-in, as they put in a hard-fought 60-minutes against the Blades. Now, the task certainly doesn’t get easier against the Broncos, who are second in the East Division, and boast one of the top offences in the entire WHL. Swift Current has the decided edge on paper, when it comes to their offence and their skill but the Cougars have always found a way this season to rise to the occasion when playing the top teams in the WHL.
The Cougars know they can’t match up with Swift Current’s offence and they don’t want to get in a run-and-gun game, but their success is going to come from a well structured approach, emphasizing that heavy fore-check. Their success away from the puck, defending in their own end, will be critical. Can they be physical and not give the Broncos too much respect? Meaning, can they take away time in space and make the Broncos pay a price?
The Cougars will need their veterans to be their leaders tonight, with the likes of Jared Bethune, Aaron Boyd and Josh Curtis leading the way. One of those veterans getting the job done is Joel Lakusta.
Joel Lakusta will be counted on to lead from the back-end and he is having a superb January. Since the start of the month, the rear-guard has been on a point per-game pace, with two goals and 13 points in 13 games. Since the WHL Christmas break, Lakusta has four goals and 17 points in 16 games.
The 19-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alberta, has certainly elevated his game and has become a leader on the blue-line after the departures of Josh Anderson (Broncos) and Dennis Cholowski (Winterhawks); since the WHL trade deadline he’s picked up 10 points (2-8-10) in nine games.
It’s not confirmed as who will start in net for the Cougars. Isaiah DiLaura is coming off arguably his best performance of the season Saturday, as he was the game’s second star in that 4-3 shootout loss to the Blades. However, do they turn to the veteran Tavin Grant, who has played really well against some of the top teams and especially on the road? Taylor Gauthier is well rested too but it may be a lot to ask to have a rookie in Gauthier or DiLaura face one of the top teams in the league. Grant has been that “big game” player in the past. Maybe he has more magic tonight?
SCOUTING REPORT: The Broncos are feeling good about themselves after their weekend sweep of their rivals, the Regina Pats. Saturday they beat the Pats 3-1 at home and then went into Regina Sunday and knocked-off the Memorial Cup hosts 4-1. A nice bounce back for the Broncos, as they snapped a three-game winless streak. Those three losses coming on their five-game US Division road trip.
The Broncos started the trip with wins in Tri-City and Portland, before losing in Seattle, Everett and Spokane. The Broncos picked up a couple of injuries on that trip, as defenceman Sahvan Khaira and forward Kole Gable were hurt in Everett. Forward Kaden Elder was banged up in Saturday’s game against Regina and didn’t play in Sunday’s rematch. All three injured players are listed as day-to-day.
Swift Current still has plenty of depth in their line up, as they’re lead by one of the top lines, if not the top line, in the WHL. Alex Heponiemi, Glen Gawdin and Tyler Steenbergen are one, two, three in team scoring and all three are in the top seven in the WHL scoring race. The trio has combined for a staggering 100 goals and 256 points this season. Swift Current felt the need to add more offence, as they were top-heavy at the start of the year, so they went out and picked up Matteo Gennaro and Beck Malenstyn from Calgary, and Giorgio Eatephan, Tanner Nagel from Lethbridge. Gennaro was the Hitmen’s leading scorer at the time of the trade and Malenstyn would have been right there if it wasn’t for a lengthy injury.
If that wasn’t enough, the Broncos solidified their goaltending by getting Stuart Skinner from the Broncos, and he’s been excellent in the Broncos net. In eight games since the trade, he’s 6-2-0-0, with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage; he also has one shutout.
Oh, yes, tonight is the first game between the Cougars and Broncos since the trade on January 7th, that saw long-time defenceman Josh Anderson (98) dealt to the Broncos for two first-round WHL Bantam Draft picks. Anderson played in 177 career regular season games with the Cougars and was drafted by the Cougars, third overall, in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. In nine games since the trade, Anderson has three assists to go along with six penalty-minutes.
KEYS…
Discipline and structure. The Broncos own the WHL’s top power-play (32 %) and they own the third-best power-play at home (29 %). The Cougars have to make the Broncos earn their chances tonight and not let them do damage on the power-play. Structure will be key to slowing down the Broncos attack. Prince George will need to limit the Broncos opportunities by limiting their time and space.
