Photo Courtesy: James Doyle
Cougars lose 4-2

Huuhtanen tallies 4-point night in Everett’s victory over PG

Dec 29, 2021 | 9:30 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Niko Huutanen plastered his name all over the scoresheet Wednesday night as the Everett Silvertips contained the Prince George Cougars 4-2 in their second meeting in as many nights inside the CN Centre.

The Finnish forward finished the night with a goal and four assists for his second consecutive four-point outing as the Silvertips improve their overall record to 23-6-2-1. As for the Cougars, their record falls to 13-16-1.

The Cougars welcomed a pair of newcomers to the lineup as forwards Cayden Glover and Carlin Dezainde arrived and suited up after being involved in the three-team trade Tuesday between PG, Medicine Hat and Saskatoon.

Tyler Brennan got the start between the pipes Wednesday evening. It marked his first start for Prince George since suffering a lower-body injury on Dec. 10th in Kelowna.

In the opening period, both teams took some time to get settled. Much of the shooting and scoring opportunities came in the final five minutes of the period with both teams registering 11 shots on net. No penalties were handed out during the first period.

13 seconds into the second period, the Silvertips shake their egg loose of the scoreboard. With Tyler Brennan on his back, Ryan Hofer put the puck in past the Cougars goalie. The goal marked Hofer’s 10th of the season.

Niko Huuhtanen got the helper on the scoring play, but a few minutes later he and Hofer swapped roles while on a powerplay. After scoring twice on Tuesday, the Finnish forward let off a one-timer from long range that beat Brennan just under the crossbar.

Following a goaltender interference call to Caden Brown, the Silvertips were off on the man-advantage. Once again, Huuhtanen and Hofer paired up. Hofer picked up his second of the night at 17:29 into the second period.

Everett added one more before the conclusion of the period. On the powerplay, the Silvertips pushed their total to four with their third powerplay marker on the evening. Alex Swetlikoff scored his 17th. Huuhtanen was given an assist on the play which made it back-to-back nights with 4-points.

In the third period, the Cougars were finally able to creep one in. Bauer Dumanski put a shot on net that trickled through MacInnes’ five-hole to make the score 4-1. The goal was Dumanski’s second of the season.

Koehn Ziemmer added another goal for the Cougars inside the final minute of the game, but Prince George fell short as the Silvertips came away with a 4-2 final.

Koen MacInnes stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced as he tucked a win under his belt. Meanwhile, Tyler Brennan stopped 24 of the 28 shots he faced and took a loss in his first game back since returning from injury.

Prince George will next face the Kamloops Blazers before ringing in the New Year on Friday night inside the CN Centre. Game time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. that night before then heading down to Kamloops to face the Blazers again the following night to kick-off 2022.