PREVIEW: Vancouver Giants at Prince George Cougars (Game #19)

Tonight from the RE/MAX Hub in Kamloops, the Vancouver Giants will battle the Prince George Cougars for a sixth and final time. These two teams last met on Sunday when the Cougars earned a 5-2 victory against the Giants. A win tonight though for the Giants would even the season series at three wins apiece.

WEBCAST – RADIO – GAME NOTES

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

OVERVIEW

Head Coach: Mark Lamb

Record: 8-7-2-1

Record vs. VAN: 3-1-0-1

Last Game: A 2-1 victory last night over the Kelowna Rockets

Goals For/Goals Against: 52 GF/54 GA (-2)

Power Play: 15.7% (20th)

Penalty Kill: 82.1% (8th)

Leading Scorers: Craig Armstrong (17GP – 7G – 6A – 13PTS), Ethan Samson (18GP – 1G – 10A – 11PTS), Koehn Ziemmer (18GP – 7G -3A – 10PTS)

ZIEMMER MAKING HIS MARK

With the fourth overall pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, the Prince George Cougars selected forward Koehn Ziemmer. The product of Mayerthorpe, AB has not disappointed having posted seven goals and three assists for 10 points through 18 games. Three of those seven goals have come against the Giants this season, and two of them came in the first period of Sunday’s victory for the Cougars. With seven goals, Ziemmer leads all B.C. Division rookies. He is a late birthday and won’t be draft eligible until 2023.

THAT WINNING FEELING

Heading into action tonight, the Prince George Cougars are 4-0-1-0 in their last five games. Since April 26th the Cougars have accomplished the following:

• April 26th – A 4-1 win over Victoria.
• April 28th – A 5-1 win over Kamloops.
• April 30th – A 2-1 overtime loss to Victoria.
• May 1st – A 5-2 win over Vancouver
• May 4th – A 2-1 win over Kelowna

In that span they’ve outscored their opposition 18 – 6.

COUGAR NOTES

• Six of Craig Armstrong’s seven goals have come against the Giants.
• Jonny Hooker (1-3-4) and Ethan Samson (0-4-4) each have four points against Vancouver.
• Koehn Ziemmer has three goals in five games against the Giants.
• Taylor Gauthier is 2-1-0-0, with a 1.67 goals-against average (GAA) and .949 save percentage (SV%) against Vancouver.
• The Cougars are 1-2-2-1 in games decided by one goal.
• The Cougars are 8-1 when leading after two periods.

VANCOUVER GIANTS

OVERVIEW

Head Coach: Michael Dyck

Record: 10-8

Last Game: A 5-2 loss to Prince George on Sunday.

Goals For/Goals Against: 58 GF/50 GA (+8)

Power Play: 18.6% (17th)

Penalty Kill: 83.7% (5th)

Leading Scorers: Justin Sourdif (18GP – 7G – 20A – 27PTS), Tristen Nielsen (18GP – 13G -11A – 24PTS), Eric Florchuk (18GP – 4G – 13A – 17PTS)

NIELSEN LIGHTS THE LAMP

The silver lining from Sunday’s 5-2 loss came courtesy of Tristen Nielsen. The over-age forward scored twice, which brings his B.C. Division leading goal total to 13. Prior to Sunday, Nielsen had gone seven games without a goal, but thanks to that two-goal outburst he now has 24 points, and eight multi-point games for the season. In five meetings against Prince George, Nielsen has three goals and one assist, and also had the shootout clinching goal against Prince George back on April 4th.

DREW SIM GETS THE NOD

Tonight will mark the 10th career WHL appearance for 2003-born goaltender Drew Sim. For the season, Sim has appeared in seven games and has a 4-1 record. Sim entered the game early early in the second period when he relieved Trent Miner, and stopped six of the seven Prince George shots that came his way. Drew Sim’s first career WHL start came in Prince George against the Cougars back on March 7th – A 4-3 overtime loss.

GIANT NOTES 

• Eric Florchuk leads all Giants with five points (1G, 4A) against the Cougars.
• The Giants penalty kill has gone 18/20 against Prince George.
• The Giants have outshot their opponent in 12 of their first 18 games.
• The Giants have surrendered 20-or-fewer shots against in eight of their 18 games.
• Justin Sourdif has four assists in five games against Prince George.