Cougars drop Chiefs into fourth

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia – The Prince George Cougars scored two goals with a man-advantage and Cameron Cepek dished out two assists in a 2-0 Western Hockey League victory over the Spokane Chiefs Friday night at the CN Centre.

With the loss, the Chiefs (42-22-0-3) dropped to fourth place in the WHL Western Conference standings. The Kelowna Rockets moved to third place with a 3-1 win over the Chilliwack Bruins. The Tri-City Americans clinched the U.S. Division championship with a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Marek Viedensky opened the scoring for the Cougars at 2 minutes, 27 seconds of the first period. With Mike Reddington off after a delay-of-game penalty, Cepek’s shot deflected off the end board and rebounded in front of the net, where Viedensky was there to put the puck past an out-of-position Spokane goaltender Dustin Tokarski.

At 4:03 of the second, 6 seconds after Dustin Donaghy was penalized for a hooking infraction, Tyler Halliday redirected Cepek’s shot from the point to give the Cougars a 2-0 led.

Tokarski recorded 37 saves in a for the Chiefs. Former Chief Kevin Armstrong got the shutout, recording 31 saves for Prince George (25-40-0-2).

Spokane and Prince George face off again tonight at Prince George.

Spokane closes out the regular season with four games in five nights next week, beginning with a home contest Wednesday against the Everett Silvertips.

On Friday, the Chiefs host the Americans before switching sites for next Saturday’s game. The Chiefs close the regular season with a home game against Kelowna on March 15.

If the season ended today, Spokane would face Kamloops in the first round of the playoffs.

Cougars 2, Chiefs 0

 First Period—1, Prince George, Viedensky 14 (Cepek, Armstrong), 2:27 (pp). Second Period—1, Prince George, Halliday 13 (Cepek, Maylan), 4:03 (pp). Third Period—None.

Power-play Opp.—Spokane 0 of 3; Prince George 2 of 6. Saves—Spokane, Tokarski 19-13-5—37. Prince George, Armstrong 9-9-13—31. A—2,830.