To help their cause in winning their first-round matchup, the Prince George Cougars will need some big results in the Pacific Northwest to slay the dragon that is the Portland Winterhawks.
Heading into Game Three of their Western Conference Quarter-Final series, Associate Coach Jim Playfair wants to see a mind-shift switch prior to tonight’s (Tuesday) 7pm puck drop from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
After a euphoric comeback in Game One erasing three-goal deficits of 4-1 and 5-2 enroute to a 7-6 overtime victory, PG was humbled back into reality dropping a 5-2 decision to the Winterhawks on Saturday in front of a sold-out CN Centre.
Playfair made it clear any momentum built up in the postseason can be fleeting.
“The biggest thing we took away from the first two games is that we have to start becoming the hunters. I think we got hunted down in a sense – they got a two-goal lead in the first game and a one-goal lead in the second game. We have to switch it up to where we are sending more energy on the hunted side.”
“What happened was we were able to find a way to comeback at home in Game One and create some good energy and I thought we lost some of that momentum in the second game. We tried to hope and wish our way through and I think that it’s tough to carry momentum into the playoffs it’s very tough when compared to the regular season where you can string together four or five wins in a row.”
Playfair is also expecting a bounce-back performance out of starting goaltender Josh Ravensbergen who has gotten off to a rocky start in the 2025 WHL Playoffs.
After getting pulled in Game One after allowing four goals on 19 shots, Ravensbergen allowed the same number of Winterhawk markers in Game Two on 32 shots faced.
However, Playfair liked what we saw towards the end of Game Two, signaling a possible return to form the 18-year-old out of North Vancouver.
“When you look at our third period, I thought Josh Ravensbergen was outstanding. I thought he stood up and looked organized and confident again in practice. I think we can expect him to have a really good start to the game and that sets the rest of our team up. The mindset of building up from the net out has always been something we have been good at the last couple years.”
“Getting on the road is good, it frees up distractions and it’s more of a group mentality. We had a really easy travel day, and I think the way we handled our travel has been excellent.”
“We just have to make sure we start the game on time,” added Playfair.
Portland has been the Cougars’ kryptonite in the postseason over the past several years, ousting them in last year’s Western Conference Final in six games.
The Winterhawks also dispatched PG from the WHL Playoffs in 2022 and 2017.
Puck drop is at 7pm tonight (Tuesday).
Games Four and Five are set for tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
If necessary, Games Six and Seven will shift back to PG Sunday (6pm) and Monday (7pm) at CN Centre.
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