Tyson Baillie has always been a thorn in the side of the Prince George Cougars.
There’s just something about playing the Cougars that turns the 20-year-old Kelowna Rockets veteran into an absolute beast.
After getting skunked 3-0 by the Cougars the night before in the first game of the weekend set at CN Centre, Baillie ended his short famine with a five-point feast Saturday. His two-goal, three-assist effort and a 35-save performance from goalie Michael Herringer added up to a 6-2 defeat of the Cougars.
What was a 1-0 Kelowna lead halfway through the game turned into a blowout embarrassment for the Cougars (3-4-0-0) who looked a disorganized mess in the second half of the game, sending most of the crowd of 3,191 home disappointed.
“I always seem to get up against these guys, I always seem to be in every scrum and the chirping gets me motivated, gets me fired up and that’s when I play my best, when I’m angry,” said Baillie, who now has 17 goals and 33 points in 28 games over five seasons against his WHL B.C. Division rivals from P.G.
“I like coming up and playing in Prince George, I’m from northern Alberta (Fort Saskatchewan) and I like it up north. These guys (the Cougars) are playing good hockey and it’s a good rivalry. They’re a fast physical team and it’s always nice to have these kinds of teams in the league.”
Baillie now leads the Rockets in scoring with nine goals and 19 points in 11 games.
Playing left wing on a line with Dillon Dube and Kole Lind, with 12 minutes gone in the second period, Baillie fed a pass to Dube to extend the Rockets’ lead to 2-0, then collected his first goal of the night late in the period while killing a penalty. Baillie hounded Cougar defenceman Tate Olson on his ill-advised puck-carry across the crease and whacked Olson’s stick hard enough to bat the puck into the net past a surprised Ty Edmonds.
In the third period, with the Rockets up 4-1 and the penalties piling up on the frustrated Cougars, Baillie cashed in a two-man advantage for his fifth point, faking a shot as he cruised in on the right side before launching a ripper in past goalie Mack Shields, who came in the replace Edmonds after the second intermission.
Baillie took three minor penalties and the Cougars took advantage of one of them, 10:25 into the third period. Chase Witala snuck in a wrist shot after a face-off win from Jansen Harkins but it was much too late to save the Cougars (3-4-0-0) who suffered their fourth loss in seven games this season. The Rockets (7-4-0-0) moved into a tie with the Victoria Royals (7-3-0-0) atop the B.C. Division.
“The big plan for us was not to get frustrated, stay calm and let them take the penalties and I thought we did that well in the third,” said Baillie. “We let them come at us and capitalized on the power play when we needed to.”
The Rockets still have plenty of dangerous weapons from last year’s Memorial Cup finalists and one of them is the 17-year-old Dube, a potential first-rounder next year in the NHL draft. He scored Kelowna’s second goal with a slick move to bring the puck in deep on goal and beat his check, Bartek Bison, finishing with high-rise backhander over the shoulder of Edmonds. Dube had a four-point night with two goals and two assists.
The loss couldn't be blamed on Edmonds, who sparkled Friday with 35 saves for his 50th career WHL win. The goals he gave up to Rockets defenceman Lucas Johansen and Dube, just before Baillie scored, each required skilled finishes.
Head coach Mark Holick put Shields in to try to shake the Cougars out of their funk but that plan backfired when Cole Linaker scored a power-play goal on the first shot Shields faced, four seconds before a penalty to Cougars Jesse Gabrielle was due to expire.
The Cougars’ frustrations got the better of them with the outcome no longer in doubt and Dube added to the total on a two-man advantage. Baillie followed that up with another power- play goal.
The Rockets went 3-for-4 on the power play. The Cougars were 1-for-5.
Brad Morrison capped the scoring on a breakaway, tapping in his own rebound from a sharp angle after Herringer made the first save. The 19-year-old Rockets’ backup made 35 stops for his second win of the season.
The Cougars built a wide margin in shots in the first period but were unable to score on two power-play chances and that came back to hunt them.
“I thought our first period was OK, we generated our fair share of chances but we came out for the second period and the first two shifts were in our zone, we weren’t making high-percentage plays, not thinking, and got very individualistic and it snowballed from there,” said Holick, who had his team scheduled for a practice Sunday morning.
“I think our guys thought that after the first period Kelowna would maybe pack up shop and go home but they didn’t. Our guys completely underestimated that and that’s a sign of maturity and a total lack of respect.”
Points have been hard to come by for the Cougars’ most productive scorers from last season and that trend continued in the weekend set. The top line – Chase Witala-Jansen Harkins-Brad Morrison – generated plenty of chances in both games but lacked finish.
“I thought the last two games we could have had numerous amounts of goals and assists – we’re creating chances and couldn’t bear down,” said Witala. “It will come, I’m not too worried about it.
“We had a really good game Friday night and proved we can beat them and that means we can beat any team in this league. We just have to move on from it and learn from it.”
Holick said his top-line forwards have to worry less about trying make pretty plays and get gritty, especially with the perennially-strong Calgary Hitmen coming to town for games Tuesday and Wednesday.
“They’ve got to get pucks to the net and score from those hard areas,” said Holick. “You’ve got to figure out ways when you’re struggling to drive lanes and make sure you go to the blue paint. I thought (Witala’s line) cheated on offence and I thought they were completely responsible for the first goal against. They got beat on the back check and that’s unacceptable from your best players. If your top six players are minus players, it’s going to be a long year. Our top six guys have to get their butts in gear.”
Saturday summary
Rockets 6 at Cougars 2
First Period
No scoring
Penalties – Southam Kel (fighting), Anderson PG (fighting) 0:19, Kel bench (too many men, served by Soustal) 9:09, Kirkland Kel (holding) 11:52.
Second Period
1. Kelowna, Johansen 2 (Merkley) 4:34
2. Kelowna, Dube 5 (Baillie, Lind) 12:07
3. Kelowna, Baillie 8, 18:20 (sh)
Penalties – Baillie Kel (roughing), McAuley PG (charging) 9:29, Soustal Kel (high-sticking, fighting, minor served by Lind), Anderson PG (fighting) 17:37, Gabrielle PG (slashing) 18:09.
Third Period
4. Kelowna, Linaker 3 (Dube, Baillie) 1:45 (pp)
5. Prince George, Witala 3 (Harkins, Morrison) 10:25 (pp)
6. Kelowna, Dube 6 (Baillie, Merkley) 13:44 (pp)
7. Kelowna, Baillie 9 (Dube, Johansen) 17:28(pp)
8. Prince George, Morrison 3, 18:55
Penalties – Baillie Kel (slashing) 7:57, Bailie Kel (interference) 10:16, Southam Kel (unsportsmanlike conduct), Harkins PG (unsportsmanlike conduct) 10:37, PG bench (served by Olson) 12:26, Witala PG (cross-checking) 13:30, Southam Kel (unsportsmanlike conduct), Ruopp PG (unsportsmanlike conduct, roughing) 13:56, Harkins PG (high-sticking) 16:06, Ballhorn Kel (slashing), McDonald PG (slashing) 18:52.
Shots on goal by
Kelowna 8 14 9 --31
Prince George 14 12 11 --37
Goal – Kelowna, Herringer (1-2-0-0); Prince George, Edmonds (L,2-3-0-0, 19-22) and at 0:00 of third, Shields (6-9).
Power plays – Kel: 3-4; PG: 1-5.
Attendance – 3,191
Referees – Mike Campbell, Nick Swain; Linesmen – Tom Henetiuk, Nathan Van Oosten.
Scratches – Kelowna: D Jonathan Smart (upper-body, week-to-week), RW Rourke Chartier (upper body, week-to-week), D Danny Gatenby (healthy), Tanner Wishnowski (healthy); Prince George: D Max Martin (shoulder surgery, indefinite), C Jordan Ross (lower body, day-to-day); D Joel Lakusta (healthy), LW Kolby Johnson (healthy).
