t CN CentrBack to back wins.
For a team that has struggled to file away victories all season, as have the Prince George Cougars, the idea of going into the holiday break on a bit of roll is an early Christmas present for the Cougars.
They defeated the Vancouver Giants 3-0 Tuesday night at Langley Events Centre in their final game before the players head home for a well-deserved week off with their families.
Cougar captain Josh Maser led the way offensively with a pair of goals, his team-leading 14th and 15th of the season. Cats defenceman Rhett Rhinehart opened the scoring with 1.6 seconds left in the second period, redirecting an Ilijah Colina pass with a shot from the face-off circle.
Taylor Gauthier made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season and fourth of his three-year WHL career. Giants goalie Trent Miner stopped 29 of 31 shots he faced and was on the bench when Maser scored into the empty net with 2:08 left.
"It was exciting to see the way the guys put effort forward tonight," said Cougars associate coach Jason Smith. "Our five-on-five game was good, we limited the scoring chances they got, our power play did a good job of capitalizing on the opportunity (they went 3-for-6), and then our penalty-kill stepped up and got some good kills for us."
The Cougar penalty-killers held the Giants without a power-play goal in two chances, picking up where they left off Saturday night at CN Centre in a 4-2 win over the Victoria Royals, a game in which they were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Cats clogged up the neutral zone and limited the Giants' chances, not allowing Vancouver to connect on many of their cross-ice passes. Gauthier made his best stop early in the third period on a turnover when he stacked the pads to black a Milos Roman backhander, after he was fed in front from Tyler Preziuso.
That kept the Cougars ahead 1-0 and set the stage for Maser, who teamed up with Ethan Browne for a tap-in from just outside the crease with the Cougars on a 5-on-3 power play. That goal came 11:33 into the third period. All three goals came on Cougar power plays.
"It starts with outworking the penalty kill but it's also a detail thing," said Smith. "Even though you have the man advantage you have to really pay attention to having good passes, moving into open ice, finding space, and not relying on being stationary and stagnant and just hoping you can pass the puck around and find opportunity.
"You also have to have a good net-front (presence). Whether it's Maser on Browne's unit or (Nikita Krivokrasov) on Colina's unit, they do a real good job net-front, which makes it hard on the (penalty-)killers.'
The Cougars (8-20-1-3) moved to within seven points of the Tri-City Americans for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Giants (14-15-1-1) hold down the first wild-card spot and rank fourth in the B.C. Division, 10 points ahead of the Cougars.
The Cougars won't play again until Friday, Dec. 27, when they meet the Everett Silvertips in Everett. The Silvertips will be in Prince George to play the Cougars in a doubleheader, Jan. 3-4 at CN Centre. e.
