Nikita Popugaev is tuning up his act for the NHL and on Friday afternoon in Red Deer the big Russian winger served up a reminder why he was so highly-coveted by the Prince George Cougars when they made the trade to acquire him last January.
Playing on a line with centre Jared Bethune and right winger Vladimir Mikhalchuk, the 18-year-old Popugaev was a key figure in the Cougars' 3-2 preseason win over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
"Big Poppy was flying, that's the best I've seen him skate," said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.
"It was good to see that he has that confidence that he had at the end of the year. He's a player for us no doubt. With his skating and his physical presence, he was the best player on the ice."
Popugaev was picked in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils and he leaves for the Devils' rookie camp on Sept. 6.
He assisted on the first of two goals for Mikhalchuk, a 1999-born import from Belarus. Mikhalchuk, who turns 18 on Oct. 16, opened the scoring 7:31 into the game on a Cougar power play and made it a 2-0 count at even strength late in the second period.
Tavin Grant started the game in net for the Cougars and was flawless, stopping all 12 shots he faced. Brock Hamm replaced him midway through the game and made 10 saves on 12 shots.
Both Oil Kings goals came on Edmonton power plays in the third period. Conner McDonald, the Edmonton captain, scored 6:38 into the third, two minutes after Brett Kemp fired in the first one.
"The energy level was really good," said Matvichuk. "For the first game for a lot of these guys in actual action, I thought everybody did real well. Everybody played well defensively and both goalies were fine. I think (the goalies) all know what's at stake here and unfortunately at times they put too much pressure on themselves but Tavin and Brock both played well.
"It was an all-around good effort, definitely something we can build on. We weren't worried about the outcome of the game or so much about systems.
"The way the guys competed, finishing checks, backchecking, changing at the right time, eliminating the bad turnovers, the guys did a real good job of that."
Kody McDonald notched the winner with 4:05 left, scoring on goalie Travis Child, who made 16 saves.
Boston Bilous played the first half in net for the Oil Kings and stopped 11 of 13 shots. The Cougars outshot Edmonton 30-24.
Tyson Phare of Maple Ridge, a 15-year-old forward picked 18th overall in the 2017 WHL bantam draft, played his first WHL preseason game in a Cougars jersey and impressed his coach.
"He used his physical presence today, he had tenacity and he backchecked on the puck well and played really good positionally," said Matvichuk.
With the exception of two defencemen who will play in both games, the Cougars will ice a completely different lineup this afternoon in Red Deer when they resume their preseason schedule against the Calgary Hitmen. Taylor Gauthier and Isaiah DiLaura are slated to play in net for the Cats.
They return to Prince George after the game to prepare for a slate of three exhibition games next weekend in Langley.
