Josh Maser wishes he could turn back the clock.
You can’t trick time, but as the 20-year-old Prince George winger proved Friday night in the second-last regular season game of his WHL career, you can pull a bit of magic of your hat.
His third goal of the night on a Cougars’ power play with 5:18 left in the third period launched a cascade of caps over the glass. It made all the difference for the Cougars in a 5-4 win over the visiting Vancouver Giants.
It was hat-trick heaven for the Cougars and a crowd of 2,497 spectators who watched Maser’s three goals and a 38-save performance from goalie Taylor Gauthier keep the Cats’ faint playoff hopes alive.
“That’s a big win for our whole team,” said Maser. “Vancouver has been on a roll lately and that’s a really good win for us. The way the standings are right now, every game’s so important.
“I know how bad the guys down there want to make the playoffs and how bad we’re pushing for it. We need these points to close the gap between us and Seattle. It was a good crowd tonight with a lot of energy in there. Let’s keep it going.”
Prince George withstood a sluggish start against a hot Giants’ team that had lost just three of their past 10 games. The Cougars found some life just in time after getting outshot 26-3 through the first 25 minutes. Bowen Byram’s power-play goal served as the wake-up call for the Cats, who outshot the Giants 11-5 the rest of the period.
Maser’s first goal of the night 13:42 into the second on a Prince George power play tied the game 2-2. Defenceman Cole Moberg made an adept play at the blueline to knock down a Giants’ clearing attempt with his glove. Moberg put a shot on net and after partially deflecting the puck, Maser batted it in past goalie Trent Miner.
The 2-2 deadlock lasted just 76 seconds. Giants forward Tyler Preziuso stole the puck away from rookie defenceman in the Cougars’ zone and successfully deked out Gauthier with a high shot to restore Vancouver’s one-goal lead.
Cougars defenceman Majid Kaddoura had an answer for that. He took the puck from Gauthier and skated the length of the ice, and while standing behind the goal-line in his attempt to feed Mitch Kohner in front the puck deflected off the skate of a Giant defender into the net to tie it 3-3
The Cougars took their second lead of the night just 56 seconds into the third period and Maser made it happen, standing in front of Miner to score on a rebound.
The Giants got that one back 13:53 into the period, with Kohner serving an undisciplined slashing penalty. Preziuso fooled Gauthier with a deke in front of the crease to score his 26th of the season. Rather than punish Kohner for his mistake, Cougars head coach Mark Lamb sent the 19-year-old over the boards right away for his next shift and he drew cross-checking penalty from Giants defenceman Seth Bafaro. That set the stage for Maser, who scored his third of the game on another rebound with Bafaro in the box.
It was the 28th goal of the season for the Houston native, who had his parents Val and Brian watching from the CN Centre stands as he scored his second career WHL hat trick.
“I think after the first period, after getting outshot like that, we kind of snapped out of it and started playing a lot better after that,” said Maser. ‘We started getting puck in and we definitely started forechecking a lot better and getting pucks back, getting it to the point so you can get shots through. When you’re doing stuff that’s all positive hockey and eventually some pucks will go in for us.”
Gauthier came up with a game-saving pad save on Byram late in the game. The Giants’ top-ranked defenceman, picked forth-overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2019, had eight shots on goal.
The Cougars were outshot 42-20.
Johnny Hooker opened the scoring on the Cougars’ first shot, 1:30 into the game. Michal Kvasnica tied it late in the period.
The Cougars’ win, combined with a 6-0 loss for the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday in Kelowna left the Cats seven points behind Seattle for the second wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference. It was the second stellar effort this week for the Cougars, who ended a five-game losing streak Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over the Lethbridge Broncos.
Prince George (19-34-4-4) will face the Giants (32-24-3-2) again Saturday night at CN Centre on Fan Appreciation Night. The T-birds begin a home-and-home weekend set against the Everett Silvertips Saturday in Kent, Wash., with the rematch set for Sunday in Everett. The Cougars and T-birds each have seven games left.
