Viliam Kmec knows his time as a Prince George Cougar is rapidly running out.
And as he showed Tuesday with a goal and four assists in an 8-3 rout of the Swift Current Broncos, the 21-year-old Kmec wants to play every remaining game of his Western Hockey League career like it’s his last.
Signed last September as a free agent by the Vegas Golden Knights to a three-year entry-level contract, the native of Kosice, Slovakia had his most productive night in four seasons as a Cougar with five points in a blowout victory.
“We told ourselves some things and cleared up some things in really good meetings before the game and really started hard and basically did everything that we talked about,” said Kmec. “Everyone came to work today and it showed, everyone was dialed in and focused on the game. I think we needed that, we needed to change things a little bit to get back on the right track, as we have. It’s a good start but we have to continue playing that way.”
Eight Cougars got in the scoring act and that gave the Cats a chance to blow off some steam after enduring a slump that’s produced only two wins in six games.
“We have different pieces this year and a lot of young guys and it’s the responsibility of the old guys to lead the way,” said Kmec. “It’s a different team than last year but I think anything is possible.
“I’m just trying to enjoy it. It starts really hard with a new country and everything but I just kept going and stuck with it. It’s my last time here so I’m just trying to do my best and for the coaches and what they taught me the last four years, I’m trying to give back with how I play for the team. It’s been a great four years and I hope it will have a happy ending.”
Tuesday’s game marked the return Cougars defenceman Corbin Vaughan from a four-game suspension for a major stick penalty Jan. 11 in Kamloops and the Cougars missed that element of toughness on the blueline the 18-year-old supplies.
Unfortunately, Vaughan did not stick around long. With only a handful of seconds left in the first period he stepped out of the penalty box just as Broncos forward Bradie Birnie crossed over the centre line after taking a pass and he didn’t see the collision coming. Vaughan caught him high with his shoulder and Birnie crumpled to the ice injured and did not return.
Hunter Mayo came after Vaughan and dropped the gloves and when the dust settled Vaughan was ejected after being assessed a charging major and game misconduct. He’s already been suspended six times in his WHL career and a seventh is likely coming to Vaughan pending video review from the league office.
The Cougars took command with a three-goal second period.
Before they had to kill off the major to Vaughan they started the second period playing 4-on-4 and Terik Parascak took advantage of the extra space. the Washington Capitals first-rounder went rink-length with the puck and scored on a wraparound two minutes into the period.
Heidt ended a six-game scoring drought after he won the draw in the Swift Current end and was there to pound in the rebound after Kmec let it rip. The Cougar crowd of 2,918 obviously liked that one, watching Heidt’s fist-pump celly knowing his goal was his team’s fifth, which guaranteed a free Domino’s pizza for everybody.
Not long after Kmec notched the Cougars’ sixth goal, his third point of the game to make it a 6-2 count on another Prince George power play. After the puck went in, Broncos defenceman Peyton Kettles took exception to Lajoie standing in front of the net putting up the screen in front of Dyck and whacked him in the gut with his stick, resulting in another five-minute major and an early shower for Kettles.
Clarke Caswell stripped the puck away and scored shorthanded to bring the Broncos one goal closer just before the second intermission.
Twenty-year-old winger Carlin Dezainde returned to his old stomping grounds at CN Centre in his first game since being traded to Swift Current Oct. 8 and scored twice. Not long after he was featured on the jumbotron at centre ice Dezainde responded by deflecting a shot in front of Josh Ravensbergen to tie it up at a goal apiece. His second snipe came late in the first period and Dezainde made it a 3-2 game, scoring his 22nd goal on a bar-down wrister from the left circle.
“It’s nice to get those goals but it’s all about winning in the end and we didn’t come through tonight,” said Dezainde, a native of Calgary who signed an NCAA Division 1 scholarship commitment to the University of Connecticut.
“They’ve got a good team over there with a lot of good players and we just didn’t prepare ourselves to do battle tonight and ultimately it showed that. They’ve got a lot of skill guys and they can all score and kudos to them because they’ve got a good squad and they played well tonight.”
The Cougars caught a fortunate break in the opening minute of the game when pointman Bauer Dumanski let go a shot from well out that ticked off the stick of Broncos defenceman Marek Rokac. The puck fluttered in a high arc that got lost in the lights and it sailed in over the shoulder of goalie Reid Dyck.
The Cougars broke the 1-1 deadlock with back-to-back goals in the first period.
First, Jett Lajoie combined with linemate Borya Valis to restore the Cougar lead on a power play midway through the period, scoring on a slot shot he rifled upstairs into the Broncos’ net.
Then it was Koehn’s Ziemmer’s turn to cash in. Cougar captain Riley Heidt came off the bench at the end of 4-on-4 situation and carried the puck deep into the corner and Ziemmer drifted away from his check long enough to bang in Heidt’s pass just outside the crease for a 3-1 lead.
Matteo Danis and Ben Riche scored in the third period for Prince George, both goals assisted by Kmec.
They outshot the Broncos 10-2 in the final period and 36-20 in the game.
LOOSE PUCKS: The win moved the Cougars (26-15-3-2) within a point of the Victoria Royals for first place in the BC Division. Swift Current dropped to 24-19-1-1… The Cougars end their five-game homestand with a weekend doubleheader Friday and Saturday against the Tri-City Americans. They’ll also meet the Americans Tuesday in Kennewick, Wash., a three-game tour that also stops in Kelowna and Kamloops… Ziemmer’s 27th goal this season was the 118th of his 4 1/2 season career with the Cougars and he’s now just two goals away from tying Chase Witala’s team record … The Cougars host the Everett Silvertips Feb. 14-15 at CN Centre and Kmec has that weekend marked on his calendar, knowing his parents from Slovakia will be making the trip to Prince George to watch him play.
