They had to wait a period-and-a-half to get the ‘W’ last night (Oct. 18), but the Prince George Cougars knew they had a hot goaltender to back them up.
Taylor Gauthier continued to impress like he has in his last handful of starts, which included stopping 29 of 30 combined shots he faced in the second and third periods against Spokane.
His grand total would add up to 37 saves in his second win of the 2019-20 campaign and aiding his Prince George squad to a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs at the CN Centre.
The 18-year-old Calgary product was almost deprived of his first win on home ice and had to extend his arm as far as he could in the dying seconds of the contest, a glove save on Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Filip Kral, to evade the visitors from forcing overtime.
Gauthier’s efforts, along with a strong offensive push that came flying out of the gate, were enough to improve the Cougars’ record to 3-5-0-1 and extend the team’s home win streak to two games.
This was also the second meeting in one week between Prince George and Spokane with the Cats now taking a 2-0 advantage in the four-game stint.
All it took was five minutes for the home side to find the back of the net as Matej Toman put a quick shot past Spokane netminder Campbell Arnold to light his second of the season for the early 1-0 lead.
His fellow Czech Republic import Filip Koffer got an assist along with Tyson Upper.
The eventual game-winning goal came off the stick of Upper, his third of the year, who tipped in a pass from Koffer at the 11:46 mark to harness a 2-0 score after the opening frame.
Ethan Browne was credited with a second assist and Koffer’s two helpers in the victory now puts him atop of that stat for Prince George with five.
The Cougars had the Chiefs' number in the first 20 minutes of play, going 14-8 in shots but held back more than what they would’ve liked in the final 40.
They were outshot 17-4 and 13-6 respectively, giving up just the one tally 9:26 into the second period on a goal by Erik Atchison.
Prince George will once again face-off with Spokane tonight (Oct. 19), 7 p.m. from the CN Centre and they’ll be sporting traditional German attire.
Oktoberfest Night includes featured jerseys that are already up for bid, four breweries with beer specials, German cuisine and the season’s first Mega 50/50 jackpot, with the winner taking home a minimum guaranteed prize of $15,000.
