It’s do or die for the Prince George Cougars at the CN Centre on Sunday.
The Cougars dropped a 1-0 decision to the Penticton Vees Saturday night, pushing the WHL Playoff second round series to 3-2, and the Cougars to the brink of elimination.
The goaltenders were the story in Game Five, with Cougars netminder Josh Ravensbergen turning aside all but one of the 29 shots he faced, including some massive stops to keep the Cougars within one.
BERGER DENIES 🍔❌
Josh Ravensbergen makes a stop on a SURE Penticton two-goal insurance 👏@PGCougars | @SanJoseSharks | #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/u5aHjJsb0h
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) April 18, 2026
The lone goal came in the dying seconds of Vees lone powerplay opportunity of the night. With Cougars defenceman Corbin Vaughan on the box for delay of game, Charlie Michaud found Brittan Alstead with a cross-ice feed, beating Ravensbergen with a quick blast.
IT’S A PENTICTON POWER-PLAY GOAL 🍑🚨👏
Brittan Alstead sends the SOEC into a frenzy with an opening one-timer on the power play with his second of the #WHLPlayoffs!
Stream all the action for FREE on @victoryplustv!@PentictonVees | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/SLngMFJUH1
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) April 18, 2026
“Rav gave us a chance again, he was outstanding,” said Cougars Associate Coach Jim Playfair on the post-game show on 94.3 the Goat.
“When you break it all down, it was a poor decision in the defensive zone, we shoot the puck out into the stands and we had a missed assignment on our penalty kill. Our penalty kill’s been good and tonight it wasn’t. They only had to kill the one but still they scored, two seconds left and those are the ones, you’re frustrated by them, because I think you’ve done the job for the majority of the kill.”
On the other end, Andrew Reyelts was incredible as well, stopping all 25 shots he faced in front of 5,112 fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The Cougars started the game slow, while Penticton started fast.
“We definitely didn’t start on time, I thought we didn’t get our emotion or energy in order until the third,” Playfair said.
“They were coming out of our zone without much resistance and then, it’s a fast game by them and it was a slow game by us. Once we made our mind up, I think to start the third period we’re going to be aggressive and go for it, I thought we had a real good push, and just didn’t have enough to get the job done.”
The Cougars came out strong to finish the game, doubling the Vees on shots in the third period. However, Penticton locked down their defensive end, blocking several more before they could get to Reyelts.
In terms of penalties, it was a far cry from Game Four, which saw the Cougars rack up more than a game’s worth of penalty minutes. In Game Five, Vaughan’s aforementioned delay of game penalty was the only time a Cougar sat in the box, while Ethan Weber was dealt a tripping minor and Fort St. James product Diego Johnson was handed a boarding minor for the only two Penticton penalties on the night.
The Cougars were also without Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Aiden Foster, who was handed a two-game suspension following Game Four.
The box score is here.
Something going on in the Bulkley Valley Lakes District you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing pgnews@vistaradio.ca.
