It was the first sold-out game for the Prince George Cougars since March 2017 when they clinched their first division title.
B.C. Family Day brought in nearly 6,000 people to the CN Centre thanks to CN Rail’s purchasing of every seat in the arena, but the large crowd was silenced in the second half of Monday’s (Feb. 17) matinee contest.
The Cats gave up three unanswered goals, including an empty-netter in the dying minutes, to drop a 4-2 final to the Red Deer Rebels.
The good news, once again, for Prince George is the Seattle Thunderbirds losing back-to-back games against the Vancouver Giants, meaning the Cougars are still nine points behind the final wild-card playoff spot in the western conference.
Goaltender Taylor Gauthier stopped 23 of 27 shots, including a game-high 14 in the second period.
.@PGCougars’ Family Day game has brought in the thousands as part of #CN100 celebrations đźš‚ @CNRailway purchased every single ticket in their sponsored arena so fans can catch the Cats’ matinee against Red Deer 🏒 | #CityOfPG #BCFamilyDay @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/lsGMk224ER
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) February 17, 2020
For the fifth game in a row, the Cougars gave up the first goal; this time coming at over the halfway mark of the opening frame.
However, the team’s offense quickly retaliated with Jonny Hooker finding a side-door opening 67 seconds later to tie the tilt at 1-1.
The Winnipeg product’s 13th of the 2019-20 campaign went in off the side of netminder Byron Fancy and in, receiving assists from Vladislav Mikhalchuk and Ethan Samson.
After the first intermission, Prince George found themselves playing more defense as Red Deer surged back in hopes of breaking the deadlock.
However, it was Ethan Browne’s fifth of the season that would lift the home squad to a 2-1 lead after his special teams killed off a Josh Maser high-sticking penalty.
Browne potted a rebound after Mikhalchuk sent the puck towards the net; Maser was credited with the secondary helper.
From there, the Rebels fired back to score two goals within three minutes of each other to go up 3-2 at the break.
After the Cougars couldn’t find an opening past Fancy for a tying goal, Gauthier was pulled for the extra attacker, but Red Deer got hold of a loose puck and sailed it towards the empty net for the 4-2 win with 2:05 left in regulation.
The fourth-straight loss for Prince George is their 30th of the season, with the record now sitting at 16-30-3-4.
Next up for the Cats is one final road trip south of the border this Friday (Feb. 21) and Saturday (Feb. 22) for key matches in Everett and Seattle respectively.
Prince George’s next home doubleheader will be Tuesday (Feb. 25) and Wednesday (Feb. 26) when they host the Kelowna Rockets.
