It’s a rematch of last Saturday’s hard-fought matchup between the Kamloops Blazers and the Prince George Cougars entering the second weekend of the season.
Last Saturday in Prince George, the Blazers jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period. Goals scored by Reese Belton, Marko Statcha in the first, and Josh Pillar 45 seconds into the second. The Cougars came back and tied it on goals by Hudson Thornton, Kyren Gronick, and Riley Heidt before the end of the second period. In the third, Tye Spencer gave the lead back to the Blazers. But Jonny Hooker tied for the Cougars at 3-3 at the 12:55. Connor Levis gave the Blazers the lead for good at 15:09 of the third.
Pillar had a goal and an assist for the Blazers. So did the second star of the game, Logan Stankoven. Dylan Sydor chipped in two assists. Dylan Garland made 25 saves for the win.
Some shots from PG!
📸 Tanya Stewart pic.twitter.com/r28w6ZtPkK— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) October 3, 2021
For the Cougars, Hudson Thornton had three points. He was named the third star of the game. Jonny Hooker was the first star and had two points. Tyler Brennan took the loss for the Cougars making 26 saves.
After this Saturday’s game, the Blazers start a four-game road trip with back-to-back games in Victoria. Prince George plays Vancouver on Friday before heading to Kamloops on Saturday. Last season, Prince George went 4-2 versus the Giants while going 1-5 versus the Blazers.
Kelowna Rockets
Elsewhere in the B.C. Division, the Rockets open their season on the Island.
Last season, the Rockets took the season series 4-0 versus the Royals. This will be the first opportunity for Rockets’ fans to see Colton Dach, who was recently acquired from the Saskatoon Blades.
The Rockets are set for another exciting season with players like Dach, Pavel Novák, and Jake Lee expected to have strong campaigns. The big question for Kelowna is, can their goaltending be better this season? In 2020-21, Cole Schwebius finished the season with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .891% save percentage. The BC Divison is tough, and goaltending could be the difference between making the playoffs or missing them.
Kelowna is the only team remaining that has yet to play a game. The Royals are 0-1-0-0 following a defeat at the hands of the Vancouver Giants last weekend.
Vancouver Giants
The Giants will play on Friday against the aforementioned Prince George Cougars. The Giants took their first game of the season 5-0 and will look for a similar result in their home opener. Expect Import Jepser Vikman to get the start following his 16 save shutout.
