Brett Zarowny had the 25-save shutout and Colin Jacobs had a five-point night as the Prince George Cougars spoiled the Everett Silvertips 10th anniversary celebration with a 6-0 win at Comcast Arena.
Jacobs had two goals and three assists, while Chase Witala, Alex Forsberg, Caleb Belter and Brock Hirsche had singles in the Cougars first WHL game of the 2012-13 season.
In his WHL regular season debut Zarowny was solid between the pipes, coming up with a couple key saves in the opening 10 minutes when the Silvertips were pressing. The Cougars out shot the Silvertips 33-25 dominating the game in the final 50 minutes. The 17-year-old goaltender had three wins in the preseason, tied with two other WHL masked men for best record.
Forsberg had two helpers in addition to the goal.
Everett was without 20-year-old forward Ryan Harrison who is serving the first of a four-game suspension picked up in last season's playoff series against Tri City.
The Cougars were 1-for-8 on the power play but had decent puck control inside the Everett zone on many of their chances, but couldn't bury it. The only power-play goal the Cats scored was off Jacobs' stick, his second of the game, tipping in a point shot by Dallas Ehrhardt in the final minute of the second period to go up 5-0.
The only negative for the Cougars on Saturday was that Witala left the game late in the first period after a collision inside the Cats' goal crease involving Zarowny and some Silvertips players. The 17-year-old didn't return to the game. There was no update on Witala's condition after the game.
Prince George will attempt to make it two-for-two tonight when they face the Silvertips again at 5:05 p.m. The game can be heard on 99.9 The Drive.
