Thunderbirds keep Cats winless
The Finn had a little too much for finish for the Prince George Cougars to handle.
Seattle Thunderbirds forward Sami Moilanen collected his first Western Hockey League hat trick Friday in Kent, Wash, leading the T-birds to a 5-1 win over the Cougars.
Moilanen’s third of the game came late with 3:50 left in the game after a face-off win for Seattle. He ripped a onetimer from the slot, fed by a left wing pass from linemate Jake Lee.
Donovan Neuls and Reece Harsh also scored for the defending WHL-champion Thunderbirds (20-0-0), who remained perfect after two games to start the season.
Defenceman Dennis Cholowski, in his WHL debut, scored the only goal for the Cougars (0-3-0-0), who dropped their third-straight.
The Cougars trailed 2-0 after one period. Harsch was set up in front for a tap-in while the T-birds were on the power play, 3:36 into the game. The Cougars had some pushback right after that and had the next six shots on goal but had nothing to show for it.
Moilanen, an 18-year-old import from Sippo, Finland, scored his first of the game 18:34 into the first period on a breakaway down the left wing after Cats defenceman Joel Lakusta had trouble knocking down a high clearing attempt at the far blueline.
Seattle took a 3-0 lead just 19 seconds into the second period. Neuls got his stick on a point shot from Turner Ottenbreit and the puck snuck in just inside the post behind Taylor Gauthier.
Then at 2:13 of the second, Moilanen stickhandled his way in from the blueline and slid the puck across the crease to lift a backhander through the legs of the 16-year-old rookie Cougar goalie, making his second consecutive start.
Matt Berlin made 33 saves to earn the victory in the Seattle nets. His best save came with about five minutes left in the second period when Cholowski pinched in from the point and the rebound came out for rookie winger Ben Coppinger, who was denied by a toe save from Berlin.
The final shot tally favoured the Cougars 34-22. They outshot Seattle 15-3 in the third period.
Cholowski joined the Cougars in Seattle after being sent down earlier this week from the Detroit Red Wings. The 19-year-old from Chilliwack, who played U.S. college hockey last season at St. Cloud State, was a first-round pick of the Wings, 20th overall, in the 2016 NHL draft. He played the left point Friday, paired with Lakusta. Cholowski also covered the right side on power plays with Nikita Popugaev covering the opposite point.
The Cougars started the third period with a two-man advantage and Cholowski cashed in with a shot from the right side that hit the far post and deflected in off the skate of Berlin with 1:39 gone in the period. Prince George appeared to have its second goal, four minutes into the third, when Lakusta’s shot from the slot hit the net. But the goal was waived off due to incidental contact made on the goalie by Cougars forward Aaron Boyd.
In their three games this season the Cougars have been outscored a combined 14-3.
The Cougars head to Portland for a 5 p.m. Sunday encounter with the Winterhawks, who host Seattle tonight. Portland ended the Cats’ season prematurely last in April, beating Prince George in a six-game first-round playoff series.
The Cougars finish off their three-game trip with a visit to Kamloops on Wednesday to play the Blazers before coming home. They host the Kelowna Rockets next Friday and Saturday at CN Centre,