(Prince George, British Columbia) The WHL Western Conference Championship got underway on Friday night as the second-seeded Portland Winterhawks were welcomed into the CN Centre by the top-seeded Prince George Cougars.
A three-goal second period and Joshua Ravensbergen’s 33-save shutout propelled the Cougars to a 5-0 Game One victory.
In front of a capacity crowd, the Cougars struck only 1:43 into the contest.
The Winterhawks had possession of the puck and tried to exit their own zone. However, a turnover quickly led to offense the other way. Minnesota Wild signed prospect Riley Heidt found the B.C. Division’s rookie of the year, Tarick Parascak, who was left alone in front of Jan Špunar. A top prospect for the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Parascak bested Špunar up high to score his 6th postseason goal.
After the game, Winterhawks Gabe Klassen said via phone, “We didn’t get the start we wanted. I thought we did a couple of good things tonight, but obviously not enough. We had a couple of pushbacks, but it wasn’t good enough.”
Portland held the territory advantage in the opening 20 minutes but could not solve Joshua Ravensbergen despite a few quality looks on net. Klassen had the best chance as a rebound off a Tyson Jugnauth shot popped loose. Ravensbergen was able to kick out his right pad at the last second to keep it out.
Špunar’s best save of the first period came while Portland was shorthanded. Carlin Dezainde took a pass on a 2-on-1 for a partial breakaway from the top of the circle in. He tried to beat Špunar to the blocker side, but the 19-year-old from Czechia turned him away.
The second period was all Cougars, as they scored three in the middle frame.
Bauer Dumanski netted his first goal in the playoffs by converting on a pass from signed Washington Capitals forward Zac Funk. Prince George entered the zone on a 3-on-2 rush. The overagers pass went tape-to-tape before Dumanski picked his spot on Špunar.
The Winterhawks tried to take the momentum back as they had a few looks on Ravensbergen, but almost every chance was one and done. Either the netminder from North Vancouver, British Columbia, froze the puck for a whistle, put the rebound to the corner, or got assistance from a defenseman clearing the front of the net.
“The second chances are the key thing,” Mike Johnston, Portland’s president, general manager, and head coach, said. “We had some good looks, we had some good shots, and there were a few rebounds there. I thought their defense did a good job of getting our sticks as we were going for the rebound and boxing us out along with a few shot blocks. We’ve got to convert on those rebounds now.”
Hudson Thornton, who signed an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears on April 10, was the benefactor of a fortunate bounce. His shot from the point hit off a body or stick in front of the net and found its way by Špunar for the B.C. Division’s Defenseman of the year’s 4th of the playoffs.
4:12 later, Koehn Ziemmer, a Los Angeles Kings third-round selection, hit Ondrej Becher with a perfect centering pass as he drove to the front of the net. The 16th pick in the 2022 CHL Import Draft elected to shoot on his backhand, and the puck found its way to the back of the net, giving the Cougars a 4-0 lead.
Špunar kept the Winterhawks within striking distance with under 30 seconds left in the frame when he denied two Grade-A chances on Parascak from below the hash marks.
In the third, Portland had a steep hill to climb, and Prince George did not make it easy. The Cougars kept the Winterhawks primarily to the outside for the majority of the period.
The only goal of the final stanza came with one second left on a Jack O’Brien boarding penalty. Nate Danielson tried to take possession of the puck, but it took an awkward bounce off his stick right to Ziemmer. After suffering an injury, the 19-year-old only played 23 games this season but returned with three games left in the regular season.
Ultimately, the Winterhawks could not beat Ravensbergen as the 6-foot-4, 180-pound netminder picked up an impressive third shutout of the playoffs.
Portland will need to have a short memory as Game Two is Saturday evening, and it is trying to find a split on the road.
“I think that is what you’re coming in here to try and do, get a split. It would obviously be better to win both, but now (Saturday), that is the main goal. We will get rid of this one right away and have a new mindset on Saturday,” Klassen said.
Johnston has confidence in how his veteran group will respond following the loss, saying, “Our team is very experienced, and they know what they have to do. We saw it in here earlier in the year. (Prince George) won on a late goal in a 2-1 game, and the next night we were great and played a really sound game and won 2-1. In playoff hockey, it doesn’t really matter the score in the game you win or lose, you just have to regroup for the next game.”
