Late comeback falls short, Spokane Chiefs outlasted by Prince George 3-2 in Game 2 | WHL playoffs
When you’re trying to solve a goalie who was an NHL first-round draft pick, it helps to generate a ton of shots and create traffic in front of the net, looking for deflections or rebounds.
The Spokane Chiefs got the first part of the equation taken care of on Saturday – but not enough of the second.
Joshua Ravensbergen, the 30th overall pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2025 NHL Draft, made 43 saves and – despite a furious comeback attempt – the Chiefs fell to the Prince George Cougars 3-2 in Game 2 of their Western Hockey League Western Conference first-round series at CN Centre in Prince George, British Columbia.
The series heads back to Spokane for Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday. Game 5, if necessary, would be at the Numerica Veterans Arena on Thursday.
The Chiefs outshot Prince George 45-24, including a 23-4 advantage in the second period, but went 0 for 4 on the power play.
Down 3-1 late, the Chiefs pulled goalie Linus Vieillard with just under three minutes to play and they struck with the extra attacker, as Tyus Sparks converted a cross-ice pass from Cohen Harris to make it 3-2 with 2:37 left.
Vieillard was pulled a second time with just under two minutes to go, and the Chiefs earned an offensive-zone draw with 1:04 left. They called timeout and Sparks nearly beat Ravensbergen again from the left wing dot, but the goalie was able to sit on shot with 16.4 seconds left.
There was one more draw with 3.6 seconds remaining, but Ravensbergen made one more save through traffic to preserve the win.
After the penalty-filled affair in Game 1, the Chiefs wanted to avoid a second consecutive parade to the penalty box, but Sam Oremba was called for goaltender interference just 18 seconds into the game and the Chiefs killed the penalty.
It stayed scoreless until 9:37 of the period. PG’s Dawson Seitz juked a defender at the blue line and came in on the rush. His shot was kicked aside by Vieillard, but it went right to Brock Souch, who dumped it into an open net for his third goal of the series.
Less than two minutes later, an unmarked Lee Shurgot stuffed one behind Vieillard at the side of the net to make it 2-0.
Coco Armstrong took a minor boarding penalty with 6 :30 left in the period but again, the PK got the job done and the Chiefs trailed by two after one.
Spokane got its first power play attempt 1 minute, 55 seconds into the second but it went nowhere. Prince George made no such mistake later in the period, as Kooper Gizowski scored a power play goal off a cross-ice feed from Terik Parascak for his first goal of the playoffs and a 3-0 lead.
The Chiefs got another opportunity with a man-advantage at 15:39 of the second, but Ravensbergen made saves on all four of the Chiefs’ shots on goal to keep the visitors off the board through two periods.
Armstrong took a roughing penalty at 5:28 of the third for punching at a player on the PG bench after delivering a clean hit along the wall. But it was the Chiefs who scored, as Ethan Hughes and Brody Gillespie broke out on a 2-on-1 and Hughes kept it himself, rocketing a wrist shot past Ravensbergen to make it 3-1 at 7:23 of the third.
Chiefs forward Logan Wormald was tripped in the defensive end with 11:23 left in the period, resulting in a minor penalty. Ravensbergen made consecutive saves on Wormald and Chase Harrington in the first 30 seconds of the power play, but they didn’t get another shot on goal during the advantage.
PG’s Koy Funk was sent off for boarding with 4:56 left in the period, but Ravensbergen made a couple of easy glove saves to keep it a two-goal game.
Chiefs import winger Assanali Sarkenov missed the game after he was assessed a two-game suspension from the league for his Game 1 checking-to-the-head major penalty.