Image Credit: Keith Dwiggins

By Victor Kaisar

Cougars 7 Winterhawks 2

Cougars fire seven past Winterhawks to stay alive in first-round playoff series

Apr 5, 2025 | 9:20 AM

PORTLAND — The Prince George Cougars live to see another day in the WHL playoffs after they scored four goals in the third period Friday (April 4) night in Portland.

The fourth-seeded Cougars staved off elimination with a dominant 7-2 victory over the fifth-seeded Winterhawks to drag the first-round playoff series back to the CN Centre.

Matteo Danis and Koehn Ziemmer combined for four goals, while Borya Valis, Aiden Foster, and Terik Parascak also chipped in with multi-point efforts at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Riley Heidt, who was suspended for game four, struck first as the Cougars opened the scoring for the first time in the series. The Cougars captain buried a backhander from the slot at 9:01 to give PG the early lead.

Air Pollution

UNBC student clearing the air on causes of pollution

9h ago

Chiefs 2 Spruce Kings 1

Spruce Kings facing elimination after game-five loss in Chilliwack

16h ago

U18 Worlds

Cougars defenceman Carels named to Canada's U-18 Worlds pre-tournament camp roster

17h ago

While Danis doubled the lead about six minutes later, the Winterhawks pulled one back through Ryder Thompson to trail 2-1 after 20 minutes.

Ziemmer restored the Cougars two-goal lead with the only goal of the second period at 14:43. Danis then added his second of the night just 12 seconds into the third period as the Cougars continued to pull away in the must-win game.

Alex Weiermair made it a 4-2 affair, though Parascak (at 7:59), Valis (at 8:39), and Ziemmer’s second of the night (at 17:42), made it 7-2 Cougars on the night and 3-2 Portland in the best-of-seven playoff series.

Joshua Ravensbergen stopped 38 of 40 shots for the Cougars to pick up the win, while Ondrej Stebeták stopped 32 of 39 shots in a losing effort.

Game six goes Sunday (April 6) at 6:00 p.m. at the CN Centre, with tickets currently on sale online and in-person starting at 12:00 p.m. Saturday.

If the Cougars win – and they need to to avoid the upset – they’ll host a winner-take-all game seven on Monday night.