Connor Bowie’s first hat trick as a WHL forward wasn’t pretty.
It fact it was downright greasy. Just what you might expect from a guy who brings his lunch pail to work every time he steps on the ice to play for the Prince George Cougars.
All three of his goals Monday in a 5-3 win over the Victoria Royals were scored with Bowie standing in the vicinity of the blue paint of the Royals’ crease. The 19-year-old native of Fort St. John had his hatty in the bag after two periods, then went into lockdown mode, blocking shots and taking time and space away from the Royals to help the Cats (1-1) lock up their first win of the season.
"It was obviously a bounce-back game for him offensively, just his whole game was better tonight," said Cougars associate coach Jason Smith, in the postgame broadcast. "He did a good job on the penalty kill and did a good job late in the game with the goalie out, blocking some shots. When he brings a complete game and does all the little things right he's able to create offence with his big body and his abilityto skate for a big man. He can shoot the puck really well ad he does a good job of getting to the net.He got goals a couple different ways tonight. He got one net-front, one wasa good shot and another one from just being in the battle and competing.
"(Bowie) did a real good job last year developing his 200-foot game and his defensive game, which allowed him to earn more icetime and that when you're able to score more goals, when you have more ice."
The goals came early and often in the first period. Royals forward Brandon Cutler let go a wrister from the face-off circle and picked the top corner behind Tyler Brennan, drawing his first start in the Cougar net since Feb. 25, 2020. The Cougars scored the next three.
Bowie notched his first of the 24-game season when he tipped a shot between his own legs and got to the own rebound before goalie Adam Evanoff could react.
Riley Heidt’s first WHL goal was a memorable one. He got the full weight of his 178-pound, five-foot-nine frame into a sizzling wrist shot that found the high corner of the net to finish off a 2-on-1 break with linemate Blake Eastman. Heidt, who turned 16 on Thursday, was the second player chosen in the 2020 WHL bantam draft and continued to impress, playing his second WHL game on a line with Eastman and Jonny Hooker.
Bowie made it a 3-1 game off a shot attempt from Ziemmer that deflected off a Royals defenceman right to the stick of Bowie standing just outside the crease and he slid in another backhander.
The Royals drew close late in the period on a power-play effort from Keanu Derungs late in the period and Tarun Fizer tied it 3-3 when he caught Brennan not hugging the post and wristed in a sharp-angle shot for his third point of the game, 2:52 into the middle frame.
The Cougars responded with two unanswered goals to give Brennan the run support he needed heading into the final 20 minutes. Rookie winger Koehn Ziemmer led an odd-man rush and his nifty deception with the puck on Noah Lamb inside the Royals’ zone freed up a passing lane to Ethan Browne. Browne fanned on the shot but his slow-motion slide fooled Evanoff.
Bowie capped the scoring in the final minute of the second period as he Cats cashed in a delay-of-game penalty. He got his stick on the rebound of Jack Sander shot for a 5-3 lead heading into to the third period.
Outshot 19-7 in the second period, the Royals got pressure on Brennan early and the 17-year-old netminder from Winnipeg stood tall, making a great toe save to deny Riley Gannon. Brennan solid the rest of the way, stopping all 14 shots he faced in the third period and 29 total in the game to pick up the win.
Prince George outshot Victoria 39-32. The Royals record dropped to 0-2.
Cougars Tyson Upper and Ethan Samson each picked up two assists.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars return to the Kamloops hub for their next game Wednesday night (7 p.m.) against the Vancouver Giants. The Giants (1-1) are coming off a 6-0 victory Sunday over the Kelowna Rockets… The Cougars once again dressed just five defencemen. Hudson Thornton flew in from Winnipeg and had his first COVID test Monday. Thornton, who played 22 games in the USHL this season with the Fargo Force, will have to get tested again at midweek before he’s cleared to play. He could be in the lineup Friday when the Cats host the Kelowna Rockets in Kamloops. D Jaren Brinson might also be healthy by the weekend, coming off an off-season lower-body injury... The Cougars, 5-4 losers to the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday, were the second lowest-scoring team in the WHL last season but now have nine goals after just two games.
