Blazers 2 – Cougars 0
The 22nd season of Prince George Cougars regular season hockey came to an end Saturday night with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers. In a game where both teams scratched a handful of their veterans, the Blazers got a late goal in the first and an early goal in the second plus 38 saves from rookie goaltender Dylan Ferguson to help guide them to their ninth straight victory. Nick McBride responded with 35 saves for the Cougars who will now focus their attention on the Seattle Thunderbirds, their first round playoff opponent.
Late in the first period the Blazers took a 1-0 lead when Nick Chyzowski pounced on a puck in front of the Cougars goal and ripped a quick shot past McBride. The Cougars thought that the Blazers were going to get called for icing, but the official decided to wave it off, which led to Chyzowski’s point-blank chance in front of the net. His 15th of the season was assisted by Dawson Davidson and Dallas Valentine.
Early in the second Kamloops extended their lead to 2-0 when Ondrej Vala knocked home a Garrett Pilon rebound at the 2:51 mark of the second period. Kamloops outshot the Cougars 13-7 in the middle frame and held a 23-19 edge in the shot department through two periods.
To the Cougars credit, they peppered the Kamloops goal in the third firing 19 shots at Dylan Ferguson, many of which came in the final seven minutes, but the Blazers held on to secure the 2-0 victory.
Prince George outshot the Blazers 38-37 but finished zero-for-one on the power play. Their only man advantage came in the final two minutes of the game. At the other side the Cougars penalty kill went four-for-four.
Through 72 games, the Cougars ended with a record of 36-31-3-2 – A 10 point improvement and a five victory improvement compared to a season ago.
Now the Cougars will set their sights on their first round playoff matchup against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Games 1 and 2 will go next weekend from Seattle followed by Games 3 and 4 in Prince George the following Tuesday (March 29th) and Wednesday (March 30th).
