Spokane drops first game of playoff series to Prince George 6-1

From staff reports

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia – The top-seeded Prince George Cougars outshot the Spokane Chiefs 51-25 and cruised to a 6-1 victory in the first game of their best-of-seven series on Friday at CN Centre.

The teams will play Game 2 of their Western Hockey League first-round playoff series on Saturday in Prince George.

Conner Roulette scored the game’s first goal to give the eighth-seeded Chiefs a lead in the game’s fourth minute, but the Cougars tied it 39 seconds later and scored two more times in the first period.

Terik Parascak added two more goals in the second period to wrap up a hat trick. Zac Funk and Riley Heidt – the Cougars’ top two scorers in the regular season – finished with two assists each.

Ondrej Becher also had a goal and two assists for the Cougars, who are looking to advance past the first round of the Western Conference playoffs for the third time in franchise history.

The Chiefs are making their first playoff appearance since 2022 and are looking for their first playoff win since 2019.

But they committed 12 minor penalties , leading to three power-play goals for Prince George.

The Chiefs were 0 for 4 with the man advantage.

Spokane goalie Dawson Cowan made 45 saves; Joshua Ravensbergen, his counterpart, made 24.

The Chiefs will host Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Wednesday at the Arena. They will also host Game 5, if necessary, on Friday.