Ty Edmonds was zoned in on the Portland Winterhawks.
When the puck dropped on Game 2 of the WHL Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series Sunday afternoon at CN Centre, Edmonds was not thinking about the fact his Prince George Cougars had won just one playoff game since 2007.
Nor was the 20-year-old Cougars goalie thinking about his own 1-9 record in his previous three playoff seasons. All he was concerned about was getting his team back in the series and finding ways to prevent the Winterhawks from scoring.
Well, he did that, stopping 40 of 41 shots in a 5-1 victory Sunday which tied the best-of-seven series 1-1.
“It’s been about two years since we won a home playoff game and it was a tough one on Friday and we were all excited to come out tonight and it was a big one to secure Game 5 back home,” said Edmonds. “It would have been hard if we were down 0-2 going to Portland but now with our confidence we’ll come out strong and we’ll come back for Game 5 even stronger.
“It’s always stressful the first two games. We’ve never gone into a series being the favourite so it’s been tough but we persevered tonight and showed what kind of team we are when we play together.”
Aaron Boyd, with two goals, Brad Morrison, Shane Collins and Radovan Bondra scored for the Cougars. Cody Glass, late in the game on a Winterhawks’ power play, prevented Edmonds from getting the shutout.
Similar to the second and third periods of Game 1 in a 4-2 loss to Portland Friday at CN Centre, the Winterhawks’ speed gave the Cougars all kinds of difficulty. Portland controlled the face-off circle as well in the early going and peppered Edmonds with eight shots in the first five minutes. The ‘Hawks line centred by Ryan Hughes with wingers Alex Overhardt and Colton Veloso was all over the Cougars and came close to scoring a couple of times, but Edmonds stood his ground.
The Prince George offence started gaining traction midway through the period and Jansen Harkins tested Portland goaltender Cole Kehler with a backhander in tight quarters, which set the tone for the opening goal from Morrison. Brogan O’Brien won the face-off in the Portland end and got the puck back to Ryan Schoettler, whose point shot was blocked by 'Hawks winger Matt Revel. The puck bounced off Revel into the slot and Morrison slid a low shot into the net.
The Winterhawks came out for the second period with a frenzied attack in the first two minutes, forcing Edmonds to make three tough stops. Skylar McKenzie deflected two point shots from Henri Jokiharju right on goal but Edmonds was ready for them and made the saves.
The Cougars persisted and after a near-miss from Bondra all alone in the slot, the Cats fourth-line forecheck gave them a 2-0 lead, 8:32 into the second period. Forced by Tanner Wishnowski and Josh Curtis, the 'Hawks coughed up the puck in the corner and Wishnowski put it right on the stick of Boyd, who fired off a quick and low wrister that found the net.
Edmonds was superb in the middle period, the best Cougars penalty-killer on a lengthy 4-on-3 Portland chance which turned into a 5-on-3 for 24 seconds. Edmonds made at least three quality saves to keep the game scoreless and also had luck on his side when Joachim Blichfeld nailed the goalpost and Glass rang the crossbar.
Boyd scored his second of the game late in the second period. He took a bouncing pass and led the rush into the Portland zone with Brendan Guhle and let go a wicked wrister from the face-off dot that found a narrow opening in the top corner of the net behind Kehler. That was the start of a three-goal flurry for the Cougars in a span of 2:32 which carried into the first minute of the third period.
“Those second-period goals definitely helped us out and getting two early in the third just kind of put it away,” said Boyd. “After that they really couldn’t do much and they were just trying to get in our face after that. They’re really fast and have a lot of skill and I think once we shut that down and keep them down in their end they can’t really do much. They’re not very good defensively and I think we took advantage of that tonight.”
Just 22 seconds into the final frame, Collins picked off a clearing shot at the Portland blueline and slapped it into the net for a 4-0 lead. Then at the 57-second mark, Bondra batted in the rebound in the slot after Jesse Gabrielle took the original shot at Kehler. That spelled the end of Kehler’s night after allowing five goals on 24 shots and Shane Farkas came in to replace him.
“We had a lot of really good chances, we hit a lot of posts and crossbars and we didn’t bear down on some of our chances,” said Portland defenceman Conor MacEachern, 18, who lived in Prince George two years ago while playing midget hockey for the Cariboo Cougars.
“We carried the play for two periods and I think if we would have kept it going in the third we would have had a better shot there. We just have to get more quality shots on (Edmonds).”
Glass scored on the 'Hawks fourth power play of the game with seven minutes left, the 38th shot Edmonds faced. Portland ended up outshooting the Cougars 41-36.
“I thought our first two periods were good, the key goal for them was the goal at the end of the second period to make it 3-0 heading into the third,” said Portland head coach Mike Johnston. “I thought if it had have been 2-0, certainly we were well within striking distance and then they get the two quick ones to start the third period.
“Edmonds made some great saves in the second period. We had a high shot total in the first but not a lot of great chances but we had much better ones in the second period and certainly they had a good third period and we got off our game.”
Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk liked the effort of his players, which from top to bottom in the lineup was vastly superior to what they showed in the series-opening loss Friday.
“Our compete level was better and for me that was the difference in the hockey game,” said Matvichuk. “We competed for 60 minutes, the other night we only competed for 20.
“Ty was good, absolutely. We’re a team that likes to roll four lines and six defenceman and the fourth line was unbelievable tonight with Wishnowski, Boyd and Curtis. I thought they played one of their best games.
“We’re built around depth and this is the first time since the trade deadline where we’ve actually had our full lineup in. They took one out of our building and the ultimate goal now is to take one out of theirs.”
Morrison was playing his first game in more than a month, coming off a sprained ankle which forced him out of the last nine games of the regular season and the first playoff game. The Cougars have missed the services of the now 20-year-old New York Rangers draft pick, who had 52 points in 61 games this season.
“It was fun, I was happy to get back in the lineup and got a bounce off the defenceman and made sure I put it in,” said Morrison, who played on a line with O’Brien and Kody McDonald. “Obviously if we lost this game it would have been a tough climb back so it’s good to get the win.”
The series now switches to Portland for Games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Thursday, returning to CN Centre for Game 5 on Saturday. If the series is extended, Portland would host Game 6 on Monday, April 3, with Game 7, if necessary, in Prince George on Wednesday, April 5.
