Prince George Cougars defenceman Ethan Samson has scored some big goals in his WHL career but none more important than the power-play snipe he executed late in the game Saturday night at CN Centre.
The goal, his 15th of the season, a wicked point blast with 6:31 left in the third period, electrified an energetic crowd of 2,759, one of the biggest gatherings of the season, and the Cougars hung on to beat the Victoria Royals 2-1, leapfrogging the Royals into sixth place and a WHL playoff position.
“That was huge, that game winner there with a couple minutes left, and when you get the power play you’ve got to take advantage, so it was lucky for me to get to do it,” said Samson, a sixth-round Philadelphia Flyers draft pick in 2021. “It’s been a long season against them, some good battles both ways, and it’s good to come to an end being on top.
The win moved the Cougars into a tie for sixth place with the Spokane Chiefs, who lost to the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-2 Saturday in Seattle. The Cougars also moved one point ahead of the Vancouver Giants, who lost 8-4 to Saturday in Kelowna, Vancouver’s eighth-straight defeat.
“It was exciting to finally get fans that cheer and get excited,” said Samson. “Last year we didn’t get any (fans)and the year before we struggled to put people in the building, but tonight it just gives us so much more emotion and the boys get way more fired up.
“The playoff push continues and we’ve got two more games to really secure that spot and hopefully we can get a couple games and break that (five-year) streak with no playoffs.”
The game was the last regular season home game for three 20-year-old Cougars – forwards Connor Bowie and Jonny Hooker and defenceman Jonas Brondberg.
“It was just real exciting, for the last couple days we’ve been dialed in on this game, it was obviously the biggest game of the season, actually the biggest game in a couple years for the Cougars,” said Bowie. “We were pumped and it really showed.”
In the 14th and final meeting of the season between the Royals and Cougars, Victoria took advantage of turnover in the neutral zone and scored the game’s first goal just 87 seconds in. Marcus Almquist stole the puck from Caden Brown and found the net behind Ty Young. It was the second goal in three games against the Cougars for the Danish import.
The Cougars, after a shaky opening 10 minutes, got that one back 11 minutes into the first period. Hooker the Cougar captain, jumped on a loose puck in the Victoria crease and jammed it in for his 16th of the season.
“It was just a shot from the point and (Craig) Armstrong battled like crazy and the puck just popped out to me and I was in the right place at the right time,” said Hooker.
“I think it was just a grind, it wasn’t the most pretty game or the cleanest game for us, but it was a mental game for sure and that’s important, especially at the end of the year. You’ve got to be mentally tough.”
Both teams played extremely cautious defensive hockey in the second period and the shot total reflected that. The Cougars didn’t get their first puck on net until the 11:30 mark of the period but got caught up, outshooting the Royals 8-7.
“It was a tough game and I thought it was a chess match for the most part,” said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. “We got a power play and we haven’t scored a power-play goal in the last couple of games and it ended up being the winner.
“I’m absolutely pumped. I really like this team. There’s a lot of potential and the future is so bright. I’m so happy for the 20-year-olds in their last regular season game at home. They’re all role models.”
Both teams had great chances to go ahead early in the third period. A giveaway from behind the Cougar net left Evan Patrician with an open lane to the net with the puck on his stick and he nailed the goalpost and had another crack at the net on the rebound. On the ensuing rush, Cougars winger Koehn Ziemmer accepted a give-and-go pass from Riley Heidt and drifted a shot that was kicked out by goalie Tyler Palmer right to Heidt facing a gaping net, but he blasted the puck wide.
The Royals took the play to the Cats for much of the third period and had a few great chances that were stopped by Young. He was his best in the late stages with Palmer on the bench and Victoria pressing for the tying goal late in the period. The 17-year-old Young made two scintillating saves, one off Patrician in front and one on a wraparound attempt from Riley Gannon with 1:18 left, that preserved the Cougars’ lead.
“All of us feel very confident when he’s in net and he played a helluva game,” said Hooker.
Hooker said having the arena nearly half-full as rare as that has been this season, was inspiring to the Cougars.
“It’s always nice having a good crowd and they were really into the game and if there was a big hit or goal they were standing up and cheering and it was good to see,” he said.
Hooker and the Cougars would like to get that opportunity to fill the rink again, but they‘ll need to make the playoffs for that to happen. They’ve got two games left, next Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Kelowna.
Victoria outshot the Cougars 30-23 and held a 10-5 edge in the third period and Young was the difference-maker in what was a tight game from start to finish.
“Both teams played pretty well and we were pretty sure one goal was going to decide it either way,” said Royals head coach Dan Price. “We had some great chances and they got one through on the power play. I thought either team could have won, it just happened to go Prince George’s way.”
The Royals are also down to their last two games and will finish up the season at home with a doubleheader against Spokane. The Giants, with four games left, play Sunday in Kelowna, host Seattle on Wednesday, then face Kelowna again at home Friday, ending the season Saturday in Kamloops.
“This is probably the most interesting playoff race I’ve had since I’ve been in the league because there’s so many teams involved (four) and it’s all so close,” said Price. ”It’s felt like playoffs for a few weeks. It’s a great time of year and it’s why we play.”
Saturday WHL summary
Royals 1 at Cougars 2
First Period
1. Victoria, Almquist 5, 1:27
2. Prince George, Hooker 16 (Armstrong, Samson) 11:33
Penalties – Wilson Vic (roughing), Armstrong PG (roughing) 12:16, Dumanski PG (hooking) 18:56.
Second Period
Penalties – Shipley Vic (hooking) 4:47, Kmec PG (hooking 8:41.
Third Period
3. Prince George, Samson 15 (Heidt, Thornton) 13:29 (pp)
Penalty – Schuurman Vic (high-sticking) 13:03.
Shots on goal by
Victoria 13 7 10 -30
Prince George 10 8 5 -23
Goal – Victoria, Palmer (L,16-22-2-0); Prince George, Young (W,5-8-3-0).
Power plays – Vic: 0-2; PG: 1-2.
Referees- Chris Crich, Kyle Kowalski; Linesmen – Tyler Garden, Anthony Maletta.
Attendance – 2,759.
