Time was ticking down to the last three minutes Sunday in Langley and Isaiah DiLaura couldn’t help but think he’d once again lost his first-ever Western Hockey League shutout on a last-ditch effort from an opposing team.
It happened to him a week ago when the Seattle Thunderbirds played spoilers, scoring with just 38 seconds left in what turned out a 4-1 Cougars’ win.
On Sunday, with the Cougars leading 1-0, Vancouver Giants defenceman Bowen Byram took the shot from the slot after a rink-length rush. The goal light was tripped and the music blared at Langley Events Centre as the Giants got set to celebrate the apparent tying goal.
Even DiLaura was convinced it was in, until he looked back and saw the puck had hit off the crossbar and dropped straight down on the keep-on-playing side of the goal line, with the referee right there to make the call and signal no goal. Cats defenceman Joel Lakusta cleared it out of the crease and sent Cole Moberg in on a breakaway which ended with him missing the Vancouver net.
It was a tense final three minutes for the Cougars, trying to protect the shutout for DiLaura, while his parents Chris and Kim from Lakeville, Minn., watched their son from the stands for the first time in his WHL career. But the Giants never came close after that and DiLaura’s 26-save shutout was signed, sealed and delivered.
“Finally,” said the 18-year-old DiLaura. “All the emotions are still going through my head. Last year I got my first win in Vancouver (a 7-6 victory on Dec. 30) and now I just got my first shutout. It’s pretty crazy.
“I just saw it go past me and I was like, ‘not again,’ with three minutes left and I look back and see it on the goal line and I went to reach back for it and it was already gone. Everyone thought it was in. It went off the crossbar, off the post and then just sat and rolled on the goal line a bit.”
The Cougars never let off the throttle for the whole game and were rewarded for it. They’ve now won three of their last four games.
“We played like we did against Seattle in the last two (home) games and tonight we did the same thing, we’re just starting to take the right strides,” said DiLaura. “We’re doing all the little things right.”
DiLaura has played well in his last three games, dating back to the Brandon game when he came in to replace Taylor Gauthier in the third period.
“For me it’s just been working with (goalie coach) Taylor Dakers on the mental side in between periods, just visualizing mentally, focusing before the game and just doing all the small things right,” said DiLaura. “I can’t be happier with how I’m playing. It’s really helping my confidence realizing I deserve to be here and I’m just looking for more starts and hopefully I’ll push myself to be the starter here.”
Ethan Browne, who returned to the lineup for Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Giants after missing two games with an upper-body injury, scored the only goal Sunday, eight minutes into the game while the Cougars were on the power play. Moberg made a nimble play to knock down a clearing attempt at the blueline to hold the puck in the offensive end and he got the puck deep to Vladislav Mikhalchuk, who patiently waited for goalie David Tendeck to move in his direction before he fed Browne a crisp goalmouth pass for an easy tap-in into an open net.
It was the seventh power-play goal in the past seven games for the Cougars, who are no longer sport the league’s worst power-play stats. Now firing a 14.5 per cent clip (19-for-83) they jumped ahead of the Swift Current Broncos into 21st spot in the 22-team league.
The Cougars outshot the Giants in both games. They fired 32 shots at Tendeck Sunday, after finishing with a 33-29 edge on Saturday.
“(On Saturday) we played well enough to get points, a couple of breakdowns but there were a lot of positives and we carried it into (Sunday),” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk. “From goaltending to special teams, everybody played well.
“The crossbar and goalpost, if you ask a goalie that means their angle was in the right spot. It was a good break for us, obviously. We’ve always had confidence in Isaiah and he proved it tonight, he can play against anybody.
“He had an unlucky bounce there, probably deserved the shutout the other night, but he stood in there tall tonight and made the saves he had to and his puck movement was really good too.”
Cyle McNabb and former Cougar prospect Tyler Ho scored for the Giants Saturday, both in the second period, after Connor Bowie gave the Cats the lead 6:10 into the game with his first of the season.
Trent Miner picked up the win in goal to improve his season record to 5-0-1. In the Cougar nets, Taylor Gauthier dropped to 5-6-1.
Sunday’s win left the Cougars (8-8-1-2) third in the B.C. Division, three points ahead of the fourth-place Kelowna Rockets (8-12-0-0) who will be in Prince George to face the Cougars Wednesday night at CN Centre. The Cats went 5-3-1-1 in their last 10 games.
The Giants (13-4-2-0) remain first-overall in the Western Conference, tied in points with the Everett Silvertips, nine points ahead of the Cougars, who rank sixth in the West. Prince George is just one point behind the second-place Victoria Royals, who stand third in the B.C. Division, holding three games in hand over the Cougars.
LOOSE PUCKS: Wednesday’s game begins a five-game homestand for the Cougars, who also host Kamloops (twice), Regina and Saskatoon over the next two weeks. DiLaura’s parents will fly up to Prince George and will be in town until Nov. 26… The starter on the Cougars bus failed Sunday and the team was elected to stay in the hotel another night while the repair was made.
