The hype of breaking a 17-game losing streak was brought to a screeching halt for the Prince George Cougars.
After beating the Kamloops Blazers in a shootout Friday night (Feb. 23), the Cats lost to the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) best team in the west on Saturday (Feb. 24), the Everett Silvertips, by a score of 6-3.
Prince George was down 6-1 with 10 minutes left in the third period, but despite getting two goals before the end of regulation, the attempt to muster a comeback fell well short.
Isaiah DiLaura started between the pipes for the Cougars, but was replaced by Taylor Gauthier at the beginning of the second period after allowing three goals on 24 shots.
Gauthier made 20 saves on 23 shots in DiLaura’s replacement.
Everett scored two goals in 16 seconds within the sixth minute of the opening frame, including one on a power-play.
They scored a total of three goals on the man-advantage, all before Prince George forward Matej Toman potted the Cougars’ first goal of the contest five minutes into the second stanza.
🚨 SCORES 🚨 @TomanMatej scores as the power-play expires. 4-1 at 5:12
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) February 24, 2019
🍎: @Rhinehart16 @JackSander17 pic.twitter.com/0FkRa5zGsG
That was the Czech’s first of two tallies Saturday, with the other one coming halfway through the third period, for his third career multi-point performance.
Josh Maser assisted on Toman’s second goal, and potted his team-leading 24th of the season with two-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
Reid Perepeluk assisted on both final-frame markers for his first career WHL multi-point game.
Prince George’s record falls to 17-36-4-3, remaining last in the B.C. Division and nine points behind Kamloops; the Blazers were shutout in Kelowna, 2-0.
The Cougars return home to the CN Centre for a mid-week doubleheader against the Spokane Chiefs.
Puck-drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 26) and Saturday (Feb. 27).
